


They call you a freak, I call you the love of my life.

by orphan_account



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Eventual Smut, Fluff, Hybrids, M/M, Minor Violence, Smut, and some more fluff, dog/human hybrid, hybrid luke, mentioned smut?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-03
Updated: 2015-11-15
Packaged: 2018-04-29 18:21:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 29,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5137913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The dirty blonde crouched down in front of the kid while Calum and Michael both tried to keep curious bystanders at bay.<br/>“Hey.” He spoke softly, not wanting to scare the poor boy even more.<br/>He noticed the blue piece of fabric he had been wearing that day on the floor next to Hemmings and he grabbed it, wanting to hand it back to the boy.<br/>When he looked up at the blonde though, who still had his face hidden in his hands, he noticed something odd.</p><p>On top of his head were two fluffy… ears.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Ello :)
> 
> I wrote another fic, I hope you guys like it!  
> It's Lashton once again because I am lashton trash.  
> So, enjoy and let me know what you guys think.
> 
> Also, find me on tumblr! (Abbypd.tumblr.com)
> 
> Kiss Kiss

Ashton wasn’t a bad guy. He didn’t like to fight but he did whenever he deemed it necessary.

This time, it really was necessary.

 

“I’ve always known you were a little bitch!”

A yell was heard from the hallway around the corner, followed by the sound of someone being shoved into the lockers and Ashton’s head automatically shot up.

“Cal, Mikey!” he said, feeling alarmed. As the captain of the football team, he often felt responsible over the kids at their school, over the victims of the few school bullies. If he didn’t do anything, no one would.

“Come on.” He told them, and the two followed him automatically.

The dirty blonde rounded the corner and grit his teeth when he noticed a sophomore sitting on the ground, hands trying to guard his face as a senior was standing over him, his fist pulled back to his shoulder.

“How dare you fucking kick me, you freak?” the boy all but growled and Ashton figured the kid had tried to defend himself.

The three friends could not reach the bully in time to prevent the kid receiving the hit and Ashton could pretty much feel his own lip tear open as he watched the blood trickle down the kids’ chin.

“Get the fuck away from him Kevin.” Ashton warned, taking three huge steps towards the other senior, his eyes dark and furious. No matter how many times he dealt with this kid, he kept hitting others.

“It’s none of your fucking business Irwin. Besides, he’s only a little hybrid-bitch. Who cares if he gets taught a lesson or not?”

Kevin maintained eye contact with the captain of the football team while bringing his fist down once again, making the small sophomore cry out and that was it.

Ashton took one last step towards the boy, wrapping his large hand around his throat and shoving him against the lockers on the opposite side of the hallway. His fist collided with Kevin’s face one, two, three times before Michael and Calum both pulled him off of him.

The senior didn’t look scared, just angry but he still made sure to get away as quickly as possible anyway.

 

Ashton looked down at his own fist, saw his knuckles were bruised and some were even bleeding; he couldn’t remember the last time he had been this angry. He shook his friends’ hands off of his shoulders and turned around to face Kevin’s victim, who was still seated on the ground with his face in his hands.

The team captain knew who he was; he knew pretty much everyone in this school, including the freshmen.

He was one of the three Hemmings brothers. Most people didn’t even know that since he looked _nothing_ like the older two. Ben and Jack – Ashton knew Jack quite well for they had played on the same team for two years – both had black hair and dark brown eyes and quite tan skin while the youngest was a small, pale, blue eyed, blonde boy.

What most people _did_ know about this kid though, was that he never went anywhere without a beanie on his head. While teachers always told other kids to take of their caps or beanies, no one ever said anything about young Hemmings’ and Ashton had heard it was because of some sort of immune disease, or something like that.

 

The dirty blonde crouched down in front of the kid while Calum and Michael both tried to keep curious bystanders at bay.

“Hey.” He spoke softly, not wanting to scare the poor boy even more.

He noticed the blue piece of fabric he had been wearing that day on the floor next to Hemmings and he grabbed it, wanting to hand it back to the boy.

When he looked up at the blonde though, who still had his face hidden in his hands, he noticed something odd.

 

On top of his head were two fluffy… ears.

Ashton stared at them, despite knowing it was quite rude to do so but the boy didn’t see it anyways. They looked like the ears of a German shepherd but they were lighter of colour; almost the same colour of Hemmings’ locks. One of them didn’t stand up straight while the other did and Ashton had always thought that looked cute on dogs but it looked even better on the blonde.

So that was what Kevin meant when he was talking about the boy being a ‘hybrid-bitch’. And maybe that was also why he always wore his beanie.

Ashton was very well aware that it was actually possible this boy was one of the ten hybrids babies someone had found on the sidewalk of an abandoned science lab over sixteen years ago. He had always assumed they lived somewhere secluded though.

 

“Hey, I got your beanie.” Ashton gently spoke when the boy still hadn’t looked up.

When the sophomore finally looked up, Ashton’s heart nearly broke for him. His big, blue eyes were all teared up and one large bruise was around his right eye. His lip was still bleeding a bit and it had swollen quite a lot. His trembling fingers took the beanie for Ashton and he quickly put it up, the piece of fabric perfectly hiding the two ears. The eldest smiled at the sophomore and extended his hand. Hemmings didn’t take it though.

“Can you stand?” Ashton asked carefully and the boy nodded, scrambling to his feet.

“Let me walk you to the nurse’s office.” He offered with a small smile which the boy shyly returned.

 

\---

 

“Oh, you poor thing.” Was the first thing the nurse said when the sophomore and Ashton entered her office.

The elderly lady quickly walked over to the youngest and took his head in her hands, examining the bruises on his face and the cut in his lip.

“Sit down.” She told the boy and he willingly did what he was told.

Ashton noticed he hadn’t heard the boy say one word since he had interfered with the fight and he wondered if he could actually talk. He quickly shook his head in the hope to get rid of the thought because that was just ridiculous.

 

The team captain sat down in one of the chairs in the small room and watched the nurse cleaning the blonde up. He winced every now and then and Ashton really felt sorry for the boy.

 

“You feel a bit warm dear, let me check your temperature.”

The senior curiously watched as she put the thermometer in the boy’s human ear and when the blonde boy caught his eyes he blushed fiercely.

“Are your parents home, love?” she asked him after she read the digits of the thermometer and the boy shook his head.

“Can you call anyone to bring you home? Because I think you’ve got a fever as well.” She told him, sounding a bit worried. The boy shook his head again, avoiding eye contact with the other two people in the room.

“I can drive him.” Ashton didn’t even have to think twice before he offered it and the youngest looked at him.

“If you want to, that is…” the football captain added quickly.

“If you don’t mind…” the boy muttered and Ashton smiled kindly while shaking his head.

“Of course not.”

 

He waited patiently for the nurse to release the boy and then walked with him to his locker to get his stuff. Ashton left his at school; he’d either go back to school after dropping Hemmings off or he’d ask Calum to bring by his books later. 

“I’m Ashton, by the way.” Ashton told him once they stepped out of the school and onto the parking lot.

“Yeah I know.” The boy chuckled softly.

“I’m Luke.”

“You’re Jack’s little brother, aren’t you?” he asked, even though he already knew the answer. He just wanted to get a conversation going.

“Yeah. Do you know him from the team?”

“Yup. He was captain when I joined as a sophomore. Good guy.” Ashton told him while holding open the door to the passenger’s seat of his car for Luke. The blonde blushed once again and sat down. To avoid an awkward silence, Ashton turned the radio of his car up a bit and he smiled when he heard the sophomore softly hum along to the songs, and sometimes even the guitar parts.

Every now and then he’d stop to give the driver directions to his house but he’d start humming along right after and Ashton was a bit sad to find out they had reached their destiny.

 

“Thanks for the ride.” Luke mumbled, looking at his own fingers instead at Ashton and the eldest couldn’t help but smile a bit.

“You’re welcome. Do you think you’ll be okay?” Ashton asked, still a bit worried because the poor boy’s face looked as if an elephant had decided to take a seat on it and he had a fever on top of it.

“Yeah, of course.” Luke said but he didn’t sound too sure.

“Because I could stay if you want me to… It’s no problem, really.” He pushed, not liking the idea of the boy being home all alone for who knew how many hours.

The blonde still didn’t look convinced.

“I could actually use a good excuse not to go back to school.” he added with a wink and Luke smiled a little before finally giving in.

“Yeah, okay, it would be quite nice to have someone around.”

His voice was small, barely audible and Ashton thought it was adorable.

 

\---

 

“Here, keep this against your eye.” The senior had been searching for an ice pack and a towel for nearly five minutes and had then spend another fifteen on making coffee since he didn’t really know where to find everything he needed. Luke had told him he could do it himself at least three times but Ashton had forced him to sit on the couch with a blanket wrapped around him.

“I’m not even sick.” Luke had tried to argue but the senior knew the thermometer had said his body temperature was a little over thirty-eight degrees so he wasn’t going to take any risks.

The blonde had given up arguing and took the ice pack from Ashton, wincing when he pressed it against his sore eye.

The senior sat down next to him and watched him sipping on his hot coffee carefully while keeping the pack against his eye and the fond smile just wouldn’t leave his face.

His mind was kinda racing with questions he wanted to ask because, well, he hadn’t really met one of the hybrid-babies before and he had never even expected he would.

 

Pretty much everyone knew about them; they had been all over the news for weeks, sixteen years ago. But when the doctors couldn’t find out how it was possible and the police couldn’t find who was responsible for them, the papers didn’t write about the babies anymore and the t.v. stations lost their interest in them as well.

Ashton had always been kinda fascinated by the babies though; he and his friends in primary school often pretended to be half animal, half human like the ten.

No one had heard of the hybrids in years, not since the first of them had died three years ago.

And now Ashton was sitting on the couch with one of them; or at least, he figured and hoped he was.

 

To be honest, he wanted to know _everything_ , Luke’s entire life story. He wanted to know what made him different from other humans and how his life had been this far. Ashton wanted to hear how he had hidden his identity for this long and how he had ended up living with his family, for he couldn’t possibly be related to them, right?

He wanted to know every single little detail.

But he couldn’t just ask. He knew that.

 

“Thanks by the way…” Luke said out of nowhere and Ashton raised a questioning brow at him.

“For standing up for me and all.” The sophomore blushed and the eldest smiled at him.

“No problem. It’s kinda my job…” he said and Luke nodded in understanding.

“Still. Thank you.” The boy said, wanting Ashton to know he really meant it and didn’t say it just to be polite.

The senior watched as Luke looked down at Ashton’s hands and so he followed his gaze. He had long forgotten about the state of his right hand and the bruises were now a dark purple, some dried blood still on them.

The youngest handed over the ice pack without a word but Ashton shook his head.

To avoid an argument he got up, grabbed the first item he could find from the boy’s freezer, wrapped a towel around it and kept it against his knuckles.

“Happy now?” he asked Luke, pretending to sound annoyed but smiling to make sure the boy knew he actually wasn’t and the boy bit his bottom lip before nodding which made Ashton giggle a bit.

Damn, this kid was cute.


	2. Chapter 2

Luke didn’t tell about his ears that afternoon and Ashton didn’t ask. He knew Luke knew he knew. So, Ashton figured that if he wanted to talk about it, he would.

 

He kept a close eye on the boy during school the following days though. And not just because of he had animal ears and probably animal DNA as well.

No, Ashton had seen the boy around before but he had never paid attention to him and now that he had, he couldn’t look away anymore.

He found himself searching for the sophomore in the cafeteria during lunch and once he had found his table he kept looking over. He watched the boy sitting with a few kids from his class. The senior noticed he didn’t talk much but he laughed along and Ashton was just glad he wasn’t sitting by himself. He wondered if his friends knew the real reason behind his impressive beanie collection though.

 

When the captain was on his way towards football practise at the end of the day, he decided to take the long way so he could walk past Luke’s locker. Partly because he hoped he could see him, ask him if he was feeling better yet and partly to make sure he was safe.  Ashton wasn’t sure if Kevin had been talking to his asshole friends about the blonde but he didn’t really want to know what would happen if he had.

The senior rounded the corner and he was glad to find Luke standing at his locker, an older boy opposite him and talking to him. As Ashton got closer he could overhear their conversation.

 

“What’s wrong Luke? Don’t want me to tell everyone how much of a freak you are? I mean, even more than everyone already thought you were that is. Wait till I tell Irwin what a little faggot bitch you are, he won’t come and safe you another time and…”

“Oh, he will!” Ashton spoke harshly, making the boy turn around quickly, an angry glare on his face as the football captain stared him down.

“Get the fuck away from him.” He growled at the bully who didn’t make a move yet.

“Why? Scared I’ll make your little boyfriend cry?”

Kevin grinned as he said it and Ashton figured he was quite proud of his new thought insult. The blonde decided he wanted nothing more but to wipe that grin off of his face. He raised his arm and made a fist of his hand, ready to punch the boy in his face but Luke quickly stepped in between the two seniors and Ashton let his arm fall so it was hanging next to his torso, looking at Luke with confused eyes.

“It’s not worth it Ash.” He said, wrapping his hand around Ashton’s wrist and pulling him away after closing his locker and the senior was impressed with how calm he was despite the words Kevin had said to him. Just looking at Luke’s still black eye and lip that hadn’t healed yet made him mad enough to start a fight. 

 

“I should’ve punched his head off of his neck.” Ashton kept grumbling while Luke led them towards the boys’ locker room where he knew the senior had to be.

“That wouldn’t have solved anything.” Luke told him.

“Of course it would. He’d learn his fucking lesson and he’d leave you alone.” But the blonde shook his head.

“He’s been getting in trouble for bullying kids for as long as I remember; he won’t stop even if you’d kick him into a coma.”

Ashton sighed. The sophomore was probably right.

“But thanks for sticking up for me… Again.” Luke smiled. The senior could tell he was growing a bit more comfortable around him and he loved every second of it.

“You’re welcome.”

He turned around to enter the locker room for he was already quite late but then something popped into his head.

“Hey, do you wanna watch practice and grab some coffee afterwards?” He asked and he watched the boy’s bright blue eyes fill with tiny sparkles before he nodded.

“Yeah, sounds good.” He said and Ashton beamed at him.

“Great. I’ll see you then.”

 

\---

 

The blonde shook his head a bit to get it to dry a bit quicker when he stepped out of the locker room. Luke was already in the hallway, waiting for him. He offered Ashton a smile once he noticed the captain.

“Hey.” He greeted him happily and he felt Calum patting him on the back. His so called friend sent him a cheeky grin, complete with wink and Ashton rolled his eyes at him.

“Hi.” He said, looking down at the small boy in front of him.

“Ready to go?” he wanted to know and Luke nodded before turning towards the exit of the school, Ashton quickly moving so he was walking next to him.

“Do you like Starbucks?”

“Love it.” Luke said with a chuckle and Ashton giggled at that; the boy just was too adorable not to.

 

 “You know what I love about this place?” Luke said out of nowhere after they had finished their coffee and Ashton started smiling before the blonde had even told him.

“What?”

“That you can just sit and watch people.” The blonde admitted. The Starbucks in their town was near the train station and tons of people walked by each minute. Luke had picked a table near the glass wall and now Ashton knew why.

“I like to watch them and imagine where they are going, what their life might be like.” He blushed as he said it but Ashton thought it was nothing to be ashamed of.

“That’s really cool, actually.” he told him. He’d never done that. All he had ever done was laugh at the people who had to run to catch their train, about how stupid they looked.

Luke shrugged and Ashton turned to look outside again.

He saw so many people walking by but he didn’t find it easy to imagine their destinies.

 

“See that woman with the toddler?” Luke suddenly pointed out and Ashton nodded.

“Maybe she’s going to the airport to pick up her husband who went to war.” The blonde spoke quietly and a smile grew on the senior’s face.

“Or she might be on her way to drop her kid off at her mother to go to her dream job so she can provide for the two of them.”

“And that woman in suit that’s running there? I’d like to think she’s rushing to the hospital where her wife is about to give birth to their third child.”

The smile on Ashton’s face grew impossibly bigger and he searched the crowd to give it a try himself.

“Or that old couple…” he started, both their eyes focusing on an old woman and man who’s arms were hooked, both of them carrying a cane.

“I bet they are on their way to celebrate their sixtieth anniversary with the family.”

The senior now turned his head to face Luke who was still looking at the crowd, a content look on his face.

“That would be really cute.” He mumbled dreamily.

“You are cuter though.”

He had said it before his brain could even realize what he had done but the cute blush that filled Luke’s entire face and the surprised look in his eyes was definitely worth it.

“Thanks.” He breathed out, the word barely audible.

 

They ended up buying another cup of coffee and they spend the rest of their afternoon just talking to get to know each other.

Ashton learned that Luke had moved here twelve years ago and that he used to play football but he claimed he was too clumsy to run without tripping over his own legs. The senior also found out the young boy played the guitar and that he loved music more than anything else in his life – except for his mum, maybe.

He didn’t tell anything related to the rare ears on top of his head and Ashton would have started questioning himself if he had actually seen those ears in real life and not in some fucked up, vivid dream if it wasn’t for the beanie he was wearing and the way he kept making sure it was still on his head. Admittedly, that _could_ be because of the disease people said he had, but Ashton liked the idea of Luke being one of the hybrid babies more than the idea of him being sick.

 

When it really was time to go home - ‘ _my mum is going to kill me if I am late for dinner’_ – Ashton took the sophomore home.

He stopped his car in front of the house he had visited three days before and turned to Luke.

“I had a lot of fun today.” He wanted the boy to know that.

“Me too.” He said, averting his eyes shyly as he said it.

“I’ll talk to you tomorrow?” It came out more as a question than a statement but Luke nodded anyways, looking up to meet Ashton’s eyes now so it was more than alright.

“Yeah. Thanks for the ride. And the coffee.”

“Bye Ashton.” He added quickly after shutting the car door and walking away towards his house.

The senior stayed until Luke was safely inside even though he only had to walk from the sidewalk to the front door, and then he went home, wearing a big smile that wouldn’t leave his face for the rest of the day. 


	3. Chapter 3

Ashton was just on his way to the boys’ toilets when he heard it.

The person he heard wasn’t crying out loud or screaming for help but he could still hear sounds of distress and someone laughing on top of it.

Ashton recognized the two voices.

His whole body went hot and he was pretty sure that there was literally steam coming out of his ears as he hurried towards the sounds.

The sight he was met with made him impossibly angrier.

 

In the middle of the empty hallway, Kevin was standing with his hand tightly wrapped around Luke’s left bicep, the other hand pulling at his shirt while the young boy squirmed to get away.

“Stand still freak, I just wanna see that tail of yours” he heard the senior say. Luke’s eyes were wide with panic and he winced as Kevin’s fingers pressed against the flesh of his arm harshly.

“What the fuck dude?!” Ashton yelled so loudly, half of the school could probably hear.

The two boys looked up, Kevin looking a little scared – for the first time, Ashton noticed – and Luke looking more than relieved but still very alarmed.

“Get the fuck away from him or I’ll kick your sorry little ass so hard you’ll end up in a fucking coffin.” Ashton growled. He had never been as violent as he had been the few days. He had no choice though; Kevin had to learn not to fucking mess with Luke - or anyone else for that matter.

“Didn’t you fucking hear me?” he bellowed once more, taking the last few steps towards the other senior who still hadn’t released his death grip on Luke’s arm. Ashton’s sight was blurry from how incredibly angry he was and he almost felt sorry for Kevin because Calum and Michael weren’t there to hold him back this time.

Suddenly, a door to a classroom opened and the teacher that had been checking up on them jumped in between them. Before he could even ask what was going on, Kevin had released his grip on the sophomore and Luke fled away, Ashton running after him before his brain even told him to do so.

 

“Luke!” he yelled while he was slowly catching up with the younger boy, who seemed to be heading towards the main exit of the school.

“Luke, wait up!” he pleaded, wanting nothing more but to comfort the poor boy. He had never really been bullied and he couldn’t imagine how Luke would feel. He had been picked on three times in the last ten days – maybe even more, Ashton wasn’t even sure.

He saw the boy pushing open the door and running out of the school and he followed him quickly, the gap between them growing smaller by the second.

Once outside, he managed to reach the boy and to wrap his arms around his shaking figure. Luke let himself be pulled against Ashton’s chest willingly and rested his head against his shoulder for he was a few inches taller than the sophomore.

“It’s okay.” He mused, rubbing the boy’s back in the hope it would comfort him.

“I’ll make sure he’ll leave you alone.” Ashton told him, already planning to ask a few of his team mates for a bit of help. He was a proud guy, didn’t like to ask others for help but he knew he couldn’t keep an eye on the sophomore all the time.

Luke didn’t say anything. He stopped shaking after a while but he didn’t let go of Ashton and, well, the senior was okay with it.

 

“Do you want me to take you home?” The eldest asked when he heard the bell ring. He figured Luke didn’t fancy everybody seeing him like this.

Ashton could feel the boy nod against his torso and he gently pushed the boy off of him a bit to look down at his face. He looked tired and distressed and Ashton wished he could have prevented this.

“Yeah, please.” Luke sighed and he took a step back. The senior gently took his smaller hand in his own and led him towards his car.

 

Once they were in the car, sitting next to each other in a comfortable silence, Ashton started thinking about Kevin’s words. He had been talking about a tail and that was something Ashton hadn’t even thought about yet.

He had known about the babies, knew the ten of them weren’t all ‘made’ from the same animal but he didn’t know much more than that. He didn’t know what animals they had used or what animal traits they had so he had no idea of what to expect from the boy who was sitting right next to him. But once again, he didn’t ask.

 

This time the senior didn’t even ask if Luke wanted him to stay. He just followed the boy out of the car and into his house and the young blonde didn’t even question him.

Ashton sat down on the couch as the sophomore poured them something to drink and then he sat down on the other side of the couch, pulling his legs up beneath his body and facing the football player.

“You okay?” Ashton asked him, watching him intently.

“Yeah. My arm is a bit sore though.” He admitted and Ashton nodded.

“It will probably bruise. He was literally squeezing your arm.”

The two boys sighed in unison and then they locked eyes and giggled simultaneously.

 

“Hey Ash?” Luke said after a few minutes of comfortable silence.

Ashton looked up at him and noticed him looking a bit uncertain, his eyes avoiding looking the senior’s way.

“Yeah?” He answered, hoping the boy wasn’t considering to let it drop.

“Do you think he’ll tell everyone now?”

“Tell what?” Ashton asked, having no idea what the boy was talking about.

“You know…” Luke started but the sophomore could probably see the eldest still had no clue what he was talking about so he bit his bottom lip and mumbled a quiet ‘nevermind’.

“No, you can tell me.” Ashton pressed; Luke really was obviously worried about something.

“You know why I wear a beanie all the time right?”

The elder of the two offered him a quick nod. So his suspicions were legit after all.

“Do you think Kevin will tell the entire school now?”

 “I don’t know.” Ashton said in all honesty.

“He could’ve already told everyone if he wanted to… I guess he’s smart enough to realize no one is going to believe him unless he’s got proof.”

The football captain would do whatever it took to make sure he wouldn’t get that.

He told Luke so, which earned him a genuine smile from the younger boy.

“Can I ask you something?” Ashton then asked, his curious side taking over.

Luke nodded.

“You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to but…” He bit his lip, wondering if he was actually going to go through with this.

“Do you really have a tail?”

The senior kinda expected Luke to pretend Ashton had never asked him this, or maybe he’d even get mad. Instead, all the blonde did was chuckle.

“Yeah… I do.” He told Ashton and the boy was proud the sophomore trusted him with this information after knowing each other for less than two weeks.

“How do you hide it so well?” The words had left his mouth before he had thought them through and he watched Luke’s cheeks turn pink.

“I sort of tuck it…” he mumbled and Ashton smiled fondly at him; he was way too adorable for his own good.

“Isn’t that beanie uncomfortable on your ears?” he then asked, hoping Luke didn’t mind him asking so many questions.

Luke shrugged.

“A bit.”

His hand slowly reached for the piece of fabric on top of his blonde locks and Ashton watched intently, hoping he’d take it off so he could have a good look.

“I have never shown anyone outside my family before…” Luke said.

“You don’t have to.” Ashton told him and that was probably what did it for the sophomore. He slowly pulled the beanie off of his head, moved his hand through his hair to style it a bit and then let his hand fall down so Ashton could see.

“Can you hear through them?” the senior asked, his eyes never leaving the two cute, fluffy ears.

“Yeah. My human ears don’t actually work.” He told Ashton who kinda wanted to reach out and scratch behind those ears, just to see what would happen.

 

Suddenly the two ears moved, standing up from Luke’s head more and the boy tilted his head like a puppy. The senior figured he had heard something.

“It’s my mum.” He said and Ashton furrowed his brows.

“They’re really sensitive.” Luke explained, pointing at his ears.

“I can tell who is coming home by the sound of the car door slamming shut.”

As soon as the door opened Luke got up and walked up to his mother, kissing her on the cheek.

“Hi baby.” She smiled, kissing his forehead and stroking her hand through his hair.

It took her a while to notice the boy on the couch and she raised her brows once she did, seeming surprised.

“Did you bring a friend Luke?” she asked and the young boy nodded.

The woman walked over to where Ashton was now stood and offered her hand.

“I am Liz.” She told him.

“Ashton.” He smiled kindly at her and she returned the favour.

“Luke, honey, you are not wearing your beanie.” She pointed out carefully and the boy nodded once again.

“Ashton knows.” He stated the obvious.

Liz carefully looked from Ashton to Luke and back to Ashton and the senior wished he could read her thoughts right now.

“Well, if you trust him, than I do as well.” She eventually said.

“Ashton, do you want to stay for dinner?” 


	4. Chapter 4

Ashton had stayed at the Hemmings residence until eleven p.m. and then he had gone home to get some rest. His day had been a rather interesting one.

After Liz had gotten home, Luke and Ashton hadn’t had the chance to talk about his ears or any other animal traits for that matter.  
It didn’t matter though; he still had had a lot of fun.

Jack had gotten home thirty minutes after his mum and another twenty minutes later Andy, Luke’s father, had arrived as well.   
For some reason Andy had eyed Ashton a bit suspiciously when he found out Ashton knew but when he saw Jack and Ashton chatting about football and college enthusiastically and Luke sitting a bit too close to the senior, he seemed to trust him enough to let him have dinner with them. 

The youngest of the family had been seated next to Ashton at the table and the football captain had squeezed his leg every time his brother told an embarrassing story about the blonde. Ashton hadn’t missed the way Liz looked at him – or them, actually – though but he hadn’t been too phased by it.   
She probably wondered if there was something more between them then friendship and well, Ashton wasn’t sure either. He’d love to be more to Luke than just a friend, then the guy who protects him and takes care of him when he needs to but he wasn’t really sure if Luke wanted that too. The fact that he had shown him his ears and told him a few things about that part of himself gave the senior some hope though. 

\---

“Hi” Ashton giggled as he leaned against the locker next to Luke’s on Friday morning, his arms crossed over his chest as he watched the boys searching for a book in the mess he had made.  
“You are even worse than my brothers.” The blonde chuckled and Ashton tried to look hurt but ended up grinning.  
“And why is that?” he wanted to know.  
“Oh please, you didn’t think I wouldn’t notice the football players keeping an eye on me, did you?” he said, rolling his eyes at the senior and Ashton blushed a little.  
“Uhm… I did actually.” he mumbled, which made Luke laugh.   
“That’s really cute and all but I don’t think it’s necessary. I haven’t seen Kevin around in two days, so…” Luke told him and Ashton smirked.  
“That’s because of the team.”   
“Yeah right.”

“You know, I was wondering…” Luke started, taking his bottom lip in between his teeth and scratching the back of his neck.  
“Would you like to go watch a movie tonight?” he asked without meeting Ashton’s eyes - something he did a lot - and Ashton smiled fondly at him.  
“No.”   
“N-no?” Luke said, looking up with big, puppy dog eyes.  
“No.” Ashton repeated.  
“You’ve got a chemistry test this Monday and I know you haven’t done anything yet. And I might not be an Einstein but I am pretty sure I can help you out either way.”  
Luke gaped at him.  
“Are you serious?”  
Ashton nodded determinedly.  
“It’s Friday!” The sophomore whined.  
“Yup.” Ashton replied, popping the p.  
Luke didn’t look amused at all and the football captain giggled at that.  
“If you work hard enough tonight, we can do something fun on Saturday.” He promised him and that seemed to work; at least a little.  
“Okay.” Luke gave in, looking anything but amused.  
“Great. I’ll be at your place at nine?”

“Ash, Mikey and I wanted to check out this new bar tonight, you coming?” Calum asked when they were in the locker room later that day, his body sweaty from training so hard.  
“No, I’m sorry.” Ashton said while pulling his shirt off, tossing it in the direction of his bag.  
“I’m hanging out with Luke tonight.” He explained when he noticed Calum’s questioning look; they always hang out on Friday night.  
“So you really got it bad, huh?” the raven haired boy teased and Ashton rolled his eyes.  
“Come on Ash, you’ve never ditched us for a boy.” The slightly younger boy laughed when he didn’t get a reply.  
“Plus you kinda forced the entire team to look out for him.”   
“Okay.” Ashton chuckled.  
“He’s kinda cute.” He admitted and Calum looked at him funnily.  
“What?” he asked.  
“Nothing. You’ve just get this look.” He said.  
“What look?”  
“You get this dopey smile on your face when you talk about him.” His best friend pointed out and Ashton’s smile only grew.  
“What are you guys doing tonight anyways?” Calum wanted to know.  
“We’re studying.” Ashton informed him and the boy smirked.  
“Right. Studying.” He sent a wink his captain’s way and then disappeared towards the showers, Ashton giggling and shaking his head as he watched him go. 

\---

“Ashton, good to see you again.” Liz greeted him enthusiastically.  
“You too.” Ashton smiled politely.  
“Luke’s in his room, you can just go up there.” She told him and he nodded.  
It was only when he had reached the top of the stairs that he realized he didn’t even know which room was Luke’s.  
The answer came soon enough for the dirty blonde could hear guitar sounds coming from the very last door on the left.  
He waited in front of the door instead of knocking for he was sure the boy would stop once he’d know Ashton could hear him. So he stayed silent and listened to the strumming of the guitar. It sounded good.  
Suddenly, a voice joined in.

I’m gonna pick up the pieces, and build a lego house. When things go wrong we can knock it down.

Ashton didn’t even notice when a smile grew on his face, simply from listening to Luke’s flawless voice. His singing voice sounded even better than his talking one and the senior was certain he could listen to it for hours upon hours without ever growing tired of it.

My words have two meanings, there’s one thing on my mind. It’s all for you.

The boy added some adlibs that couldn’t be heard in the original song and Ashton found himself falling even further for the blonde.

And it’s dark in a cold December, but I’ve got you to keep me warm. And if you broke, I’ll mend you, and keep you sheltered from the storm that’s raging on.

Ashton knocked on the door but apparently Luke didn’t hear him for he continued.

I’m out of touch, I’m out of love, I’ll pick you up when you’re getting down. And of all these things I’ve done; I think I love you better now.

He opened the door and stepped in and that’s when all of the music stopped. The blonde looked up at him with big eyes, his ears turned towards the boy in front of him.   
“Don’t stop!” Ashton told him but the sophomore already put his instrument away.   
“I’m sorry you had to hear that.” He chuckled embarrassedly.  
“No, it was really good” the eldest promised him but that Luke didn’t look to convinced.  
“Let’s just get to work, yeah? I’ll get us something to drink first. Make yourself comfortable.” The youngest said, waving over to his bed and Ashton nodded, walking over to it and sitting down.

He looked around the room; it was a typical boy’s room. Three out of four walls were a shade of dark blue while one of them was a bright baby blue. The floor and most of the furniture was white while his sheets were black. There were posters of bands decorating one wall as well as family pictures.  
One of the pictures showed Luke with his two brothers and their parents, years ago – Ashton guessed Luke was about eight or nine years old there. The blonde was wearing a beanie since they were outside and the senior kind of felt sorry for him, for always having to hide his true identity.  
His eyes took in the other pictures as well and eventually landed on a photo of ten kids; all of them couldn’t have been much older than five or six years old. Luke was one of them, wearing a huge smile and no beanie. His arm was thrown over the shoulder of a girl with snake like eyes and some kind of odd skin disease. Next to the girl was another girl with tiny horns on top of her head and large, white ears hanging from the side of her head. Her pupils were like bars instead of circles and her nose was flat and black. Ashton was slowly starting to understand who these kids were. 

“I was wondering how long it would take for you’d find that picture.” A voice startled him. He quickly turned around to see Luke placing two full glasses down on top of his desk.  
“Sorry, I was just looking at the family photos and…”  
“It’s okay.” Luke smiled shyly.  
“I wouldn’t have let you in if I didn’t want you to see it. You already know anyways, so...” he trailed of.   
Ashton nodded, moving to sit on the bed again.   
The blonde sat down next to him.  
“So, I guess I owe you an explanation…” he said while staring at his fingers as if they were the most interesting things he had ever seen. The confidence from a few seconds ago was already starting to disappear.   
“You don’t owe me anything, Luke.” Ashton told him.  
“Well, I am going to tell you anyways because I’ve been building up the courage since you left yesterday night, and if I don’t tell you now, I never will.”  
“It would be nice to have someone outside of my family knowing about this, you know.” He added after thinking about it for a while.  
“So, you’ve heard about the hybrid babies they found, right?”   
Ashton nodded.  
“I am one of them; I guess you already figured that much…” Luke chuckled nervously.  
“They found us when we were like eight or ten months old and we were brought to the hospital. We stayed on a closed of section for almost a year but they couldn’t figure out what had happened to us and they couldn’t ‘cure’ us either. The ten of us lived in a sort of reservation for a little over three years but after a while it turned out we couldn’t live with each other anymore. All ten of us came from other animals so we all had other body language and we were too different to play and live together. My mum was one of the nurses who worked there so she adopted me. My family wanted me to live a normal live but for some of the others that wasn’t possible; my mum said some of them were barely human. I don’t know where they went; I’ve lost all contact with them.”   
“Mum taught me how to hide my ears and my tail so I could go to a public school and make friends like other kids.”   
For the first time since he started talking he looked up and Ashton smiled kindly at him, reassuring him he wasn’t freaked out or anything.  
“Thanks for telling me.” He said truthfully.  
“Do you mind if I ask a few things?”  
Luke shook his head.  
“Do you have other dog traits? Besides the ears and the tail I mean…”   
“Uhm… Like I said, my ears are very sensitive; my nose is as well. My eyes aren’t that good, I can barely see colours; only the bright ones but they are dull to me. I used to have canines but when I was four I kept chewing on everything because they hurt so they got removed.”  
Ashton chuckled a little and Luke smiled as well.  
“Oh and my body temperature is higher than humans’ so that’s why the nurse keeps sending me home whenever I visit her; which I might have used to my advantage once or twice.” 

After they had talked about Luke and his childhood a bit more, Ashton forced him to study for his chemistry test, the senior playing games on his phone in the meantime and occasionally answering the questions the younger boy had. It was perfect really, and the team captain loved how they could be together like this; without having to talk or do something together. He wouldn’t mind doing this every day.

\---

As promised, Ashton took Luke out that Saturday.   
The parking spots in front of the cinema were already taken, which didn’t surprise the eldest at all, so they had to walk a few blocks.   
Feeling brave, Ashton took the sophomore’s naturally warmer hand in his own, the boy looking a bit surprised before smiling shyly at him.   
“What movie do you wanna see?” Ashton asked him while they walked and Luke shrugged.  
“I don’t really care.” He said, scratching the back of his neck with his free hand, and well, Ashton already knew what that meant.  
“You do. Just tell me what you wanna watch.” He mused and Luke blushed.  
“I was kinda hoping we could see ‘Hotel Transylvania two’…”   
“Okay.” Ashton gave in easily.  
“You don’t mind?” Luke checked and the elder of the two shook his head.  
“Of course not. Besides, it was your idea to see a movie, I think it’s only fair you get to pick which one.”  
Before Luke could respond they had reached the cinema.  
“Two tickets for Hotel Transylvania please.” Ashton said, already pulling out his wallet.  
“So I pick and you pay… Doesn’t sound fair to me at all.” Luke chuckled and the senior winked at him, knowing that would make him blush; pink looked good on his cheeks, Ashton decided.

Luke didn’t let go of Ashton’s hand while walking towards their seat or while sitting down and, obviously, Ashton didn’t either. His thumb stroked over the top of Luke’s hand pretty much the entire movie and, yeah, he knew it should have been uncomfortable after a while but it really wasn’t. The eldest knew he was being ridiculous but he honestly didn’t want Luke to ever let go of his hand.   
The senior had to admit the movie was kinda funny, even though he hadn’t seen the first one, but he was more occupied with watching Luke’s nose scrunch up every time he laughed instead of actually watching the movie.   
Luke had actually caught him staring once or twice but Ashton didn’t really care; Luke probably already knew he liked him, and if he didn’t, it was about damn time he’d find out. 

Soon enough, it was time for Ashton to bring Luke home, for he had promised the boy’s mother he’d be home before midnight. They had gotten ice cream after the movie and they had walked around town for a bit, talking about everything and nothing in particular and Ashton had loved every second of it. He was pretty sure he had never liked anybody half as much as he liked the blonde sophomore. 

He parked his car in front of Luke’s house and got out, walking towards Luke who was watching him coming closer with a confused look on his face.   
Ashton shyly took Luke’s hand in his and then looked up to find the boy still looking at their hands.  
“Luke.” Was all he had to say to make the boy look up.  
“I had a lot of fun tonight.”  
“Me too.” Luke smiled.  
“And I really like you.” He added before leaning in a bit, locking eyes with the blonde to make sure he wanted this to. The boy looked down at Ashton’s lip and then leaned in as well, locking their lips together in their very first kiss.  
His hand quickly found his way to Luke’s cheek, cupping it while he kept their lips connected. His other hand moved to the back of the boy’s neck, the tips of his fingers resting just beneath the warmth of Luke’s beanie while the sophomore wrapped his arms around Ashton’s waist, pulling his body an inch or two closer to him.

“I like you too.” Luke said with a tiny blush on his cheeks once they pulled apart.


	5. Chapter 5

“Good morning Lukey.” Ashton said when he saw the boy for the first time on Monday morning. He kissed the boy on his cheek and watched the boy blush with a proud smile on his face. This boy was pretty much his, even though it wasn’t official yet.

 

The two of them had spent the entire Sunday together at Ashton’s place; they had baked cookies with Ashton’s younger siblings and watched Disney movies all night long, even after Lauren and Harry had long gone to bed. To be honest, Ashton couldn’t really recall what movie they had watched last for he had been too busy watching Luke’s face from where he had been cuddled up against him and kissing his forehead, cheeks, nose and lips; he liked the latter the most, though his nose really was adorable too.

 

“Hi.” The boy sounded a bit shy but Ashton knew it was because his two best friends had tagged along for they had wanted to properly meet the guy who had ‘stolen their best friend’s heart’.

“Hi, I am Calum.” The raven haired boy said, waving at the sophomore like the dork he was and Ashton rolled his eyes at him.

“And I am Michael.” The red haired boy told him, even though Luke probably already knew that; pretty much everybody knew the three of them.

“I am Luke.” Though the two seniors knew that already too; Ashton hadn’t really shut up about him since the day he had met him.

Ashton took the boy’s hand in his own, kissing the top of it quickly.

“Do you wanna sit at my table during lunch?”

He knew the young boy probably found it a bit scary since he always sat with the entire football team plus Michael, so he squeezed his hand gently, hoping it would somehow convince the boy.

“If your friends don’t mind…” the boy said, looking from Calum, to Michael and back to Ashton shyly.

“Of course not.” Calum said before his captain even had the chance to say anything and Luke blushed a bit.

“O-okay.” He said when the three older boys kept looking at him expectantly.

Michael would probably never admit it but he was just as excited to get to know his best friend’s almost-boyfriend as Calum was.

The bell rang and Ashton let go of Luke’s hand, pressing a kiss to his forehead and wishing him luck on his chemistry test.

“I know you can do it.” He called after the boy with a wink and Luke mouthed a ‘thanks’ before turning around and walking off. 

 

“You are so whipped.” A voice behind him said as he watched the boy until he had rounded a corner.

“What?” he asked, looking at Michael who he thought had said it, with slightly confused eyes.

“Yup, definitely one hundred percent whipped.” The red haired snickered, making Calum giggle as well. Ashton rolled his eyes.

 

He didn’t fight them though; just let himself be pulled to their first class of the day by his friends.

He knew he was whipped, knew he was extremely gone for the younger boy. He just couldn’t help it, everything about him was perfect and Ashton never wanted to let him go.

The blonde was just so cute, loving and funny. And though the ears and all other hybrid-traits had been what had caught Ashton’s attention at first, none of that mattered anymore.

Sure, the senior was still curious, still wanted to find out what would happen if he’d pet those ears or what his tail looked like but it wasn’t the reason he was with the boy; not at all. It was everything that made Luke, Luke; the way his cheeks would turn a bright pink whenever Ashton kissed him or winked at him or how he would wrap his entire body around the senior whenever they cuddled. His jokes, his laugh, how he cared for his family so much. His voice, his incredible talent for math, his messiness and the list could go on and on forever if Ashton would ever sit down and write down every single thing he liked about the boy. Maybe he’d do that, one day.

 

“Mister Irwin!” a stern voice suddenly called, waking him from his thoughts.

“What?” he asked sheepishly, making Michael grin knowingly at him.

“Though I do understand the life of a football captain is incredibly hard…” Ashton had never heard a teacher with this much sarcasm in their voice.

“I do expect you to pay attention in my class if you ever want to graduate. Understood?”

The boy nodded his head, looking annoyed with the elderly woman.

“Don’t let it happen again.” She warned, her eyes looking just as annoyed and, honestly, Ashton thought she had no reason to be mad at him for he was actually doing very well in her class and this was probably the first time she had to call him out on anything in four years.

The senior met his teammate’s eyes who wiggled his eyebrows at him while trying – and failing – to supress a giggle and Ashton rolled his eyes at him, for the second time that day and it was only nine o’clock. This was going to be a _long_ day.

 

\---

 

Ashton was seated at his usual table which was already filled with footie players. Most of them were seniors and juniors.

Multiple conversations were going on around him and usually, he would try and keep up with all of them at the same time, but not today. Today, his eyes were alternating between the two entrances of the school canteen, searching for a certain sophomore with a dark grey beanie.

“You know, he’s not gonna show up any faster if you keep staring at the entrance…” A voice next to him spoke.

“No, but I am afraid he’ll be too shy to come over on his own…” Ashton said. He knew what the boy was like. He wasn’t that shy once he knew someone but he didn’t really like strangers; especially older ones. So Ashton knew he had to help the boy a bit.

 

After a minute or two Ashton spotted the boy entering the canteen and he waved at him as soon as he looked his way. He smiled once he saw Ashton and even though he was far away, the senior still thought it was the most beautiful smile in the world.

The boy got closer and Ashton told Mikey to make some room for Luke, who squeezed himself in between the two larger seniors, looking even smaller than he actually was.

“Hi baby.” Ashton cooed, kissing the boy’s temple and wrapping his arm around his small frame.

Wolf-whistles and yells from the other football players could be heard from every corner of the canteen and pretty much everybody looked their way to see what was going on.

Luke blushed a bit but he didn’t appear to be uncomfortable for he smiled a little and pressed his body closer to Ashton’s, hiding his face in the crook of the older boy’s neck.

The senior kissed the top of his beanie, not sure if he would feel it or not so he squeezed his knee gently as well. Ashton was convinced he was wearing the biggest, proudest smile ever; the whole school knew Luke was his now and he was more than okay with that.

 

The people in the canteen quickly lost interest in the new couple - though Ashton could tell some of them were talking about them – and Luke obviously grew more and more comfortable. He started munching on the sandwich Ashton guessed his mother had made him while watching and listening to the other kids at the table quietly. Ashton just let him.

 

“So, Luke, what do you like to do in your spare time?” Michael asked, pretending to be a father interrogating his daughter’s new boyfriend.

“Uhh, I play the guitar…”

“And I kinda like FiFa.” He added quickly, as if he had forgotten about that at first.

Michael and Calum’s entire face lit up exactly like Ashton had expected and he shook his head fondly at his two best friends.

“Seriously? Are you any good?” Calum asked, probably referring to both but Luke obviously didn’t know that.

“At… FiFa?” he questioned.

“Both.” Michael answered for his best friend because they knew each other too well sometimes.

“Uhh… I don’t know. I guess I don’t suck at FiFa but my guitar skills aren’t that special.” He shrugged and Ashton made a disproving sound.

“He’s amazing.” He told his friends.

“He sings as well.”

He guessed the blonde wouldn’t like it when he told other people that, knew he was very humble but Ashton was only telling the truth, right?

“We should totally jam sometime!” Michael beamed at the young blonde who was blushing a bit but wearing a big and bright smile as well, so all was good.

“What do you play?” Luke asked the red haired.

“Me and Cal play the guitar and Ashton plays the drums.”

Luke’s head shot up.

“Why’d you never tell me?” He actually looked a bit offended but Ashton thought the pout on his face looked adorable.

“Because I suck.” He shrugged but his two best friends started arguing right away. 

“As his best friends, we aren’t really supposed to say this but Ash is actually really fucking good.” Calum told their newest table-member.

“I demand to hear that soon.” He said, turning to the team captain who simply smiled at him. He knew Luke liked music but he hadn’t thought it was such a big deal to him.

“Okay.” He said, pressing another kiss to the boy’s temple. He didn’t say it out loud but he’d do anything the blonde would ask him to.

 

The subject was dropped when Michael started talking about FiFa, the three boys soon enough wrapped up in a conversation Ashton wasn’t really interested in. So instead of participating, he watched the three. He could tell his two friends already liked Luke and the team captain knew for sure they’d get along just fine.

Luke seemed to be at ease, arguing with Michael and Calum like he had done it for years and accepting Michael’s challenge right away.

“Oh, you’re on!” the red haired said when Luke cockily told him he thought he could beat the older boy’s ass with ease.

“You, me, after school, my place.” Michael told the blonde when the ball rang, telling the students their lunch break was over.

“Hey!” Ashton said, pouting at Luke and showing him the best puppy dog eyes he could muster. They were supposed to hang out together after school.

“You can come and watch.” Michael told him before the sophomore could respond and the footie player crossed his arms over his chest childishly but gave in with a huffed ‘fine’ anyways, earning a grin from Mikey and a big smile from Luke.

Maybe it hadn’t been such a good idea to introduce them to each other after all.

 

\---

 

“Fuck!” Michael cursed loudly when Luke scored yet another goal.

“Don’t swear” came Ashton’s automatic response, making both Luke and Calum giggle.

“You’re so gonna lose.” The raven haired boy told his best friend in a bit of a singing voice, knowing very well it would piss him off.

“Shut up Cal.” He grumbled, which only resulted in the boy laughing loudly.

“You do realize this makes you the worst FiFa player out of all of us, right?” Michael said to him without taking his eyes of the screen, trying desperately to make it a tie again.

“Hey, Ashton is worse!” Calum pouted.

“You don’t know that though.” Ashton said.

“You both have never actually beat me.”

The boy had refused to play from day one; he had claimed he’d rather spend his time on playing real life football though he always ended up on the couch, watching his friends play instead.

“Exactly.” Michael smirked and Calum huffed.

“Yes!” Luke suddenly said, as he had scored another goal.

“You need to talk less and play more.” He told the senior. Ashton watched him fondly; it seemed as if Luke had been friends with the three of them for years instead of a few hours.

“Oh shut up.” Michael told him and Ashton frowned.

“Don’t talk to him like that.”

“Yeah, leave Ashton’s boyfriend alone.” Calum said, obviously taking revenge on his captain for earlier.

Luke and Ashton both blushed but none of them corrected the raven haired boy and Ashton took that as a win; he should probably thank Cal later.

 

When the two boys were halfway through their third game – “I have to beat him; I refuse to go to bed before I beat him” – Ashton let himself fall over so his head was right next to where Luke was sitting, his long legs dangling over the elbow rest of the couch. He moved up a bit and squeezed his head between Luke’s arm and leg so his head was in his lap.

The boy looked down for a split second before looking back at the screen, barely paying attention to the senior. He felt like a freaking cat, begging for attention, but he was so sick of watching the tiny, fake football players run around and kick a ball across a field, he didn’t know what else to do.

So he nudged his head against Luke’s arm. He still didn’t react.

“Luke…” he whined.

This _so_ wasn’t fair; he was supposed to have the boy all to himself tonight.

Stupid Michael.

He tried again, a little harder this time.

“Ash, I am trying to play.” He said, but the fond was dripping off of his voice.

“You’ve already won twice, why won’t you let him win so we can do something else?” he whined, feeling like a seven year old. He just couldn’t help it; he had had Luke for two weeks, he just wasn’t ready to share yet.

“I just need to teach him he cannot beat me.” Luke smirked and Ashton liked this confident side of him; he wished the boy could be more confident about other things as well.

“How did you get this good anyways?” Calum piped up. Ashton knew he was bored as well for his head was rested on Michael’s shoulder and he had been yawning non-stop for the last ten minutes.

“My brothers forced me to play whenever they didn’t have each other or friends around to play with.”

“Are they just as good as you are?” the raven haired boy wanted to know.

Luke shrugged.

“I guess… No one has the upper hand, really.”

 

Suddenly Michael started cursing again after it had been a tie for over half an hour and Ashton gave up; the two of them would never stop playing now. Michael was too stubborn to give up. 


	6. Chapter 6

His sweaty shirt was clinging to his back as he ran towards the goal, hoping his team mate would pass the ball to him so he could score.

 

It was Wednesday and the team was divided in two, Ashton leading one half and Calum the other. Calum’s team was currently doing better, mainly because they had one man more.

Ashton wasn’t happy with the guys on his team though; he knew they could do better. He was already preparing the words he’d say to them in the locker room because they all really needed to step up their game if they wanted to make it through the next game they had coming up.

 

When the ball came flying his way, all thoughts about the team and how they really needed to work harder disappeared from his brain, the only thing he was focusing on the ball, the goal and the defence he somehow had to get through.

He could faintly hear Luke cheering him on but he blocked it. He couldn’t use any distractions right now. He knew this game was just practice for him and his team but this was about honour as well; as the captain of the team he was supposed to win. Always.

 

His legs let him run almost impossibly faster and he could feel his heart almost beating out of his chest, his throat sore from running so much and so hard. But he was getting close; he couldn’t give up now.

He squinted his eyes, took in the situation in front of him, pulled his right leg back and kicked the ball away from him as hard as possible. He watched as it flew towards the goal, saw the goalie moving towards it, his hands reaching out but not quite catching the ball. Ashton turned around with a big grin on his face and soon he had his arms full of teammates and people patting him on his shoulders and back. He could hear Luke cheering and Michael booing since he had been cheering for Calum this whole time. Ashton would make him pay back for that later.

 

The coach blew his whistle five minutes later, which meant Ashton’s team had lost by one goal. He was a bit disappointed but kept telling himself it wasn’t a big deal; it was just practice.

He walked towards the locker room, Calum soon enough besides him and throwing his arm around him.

“Well, you can’t always be the best.” He said, as if he had been reading Ashton’s thoughts.

“I’d beat you one on one.” He said, but they both knew he was wrong.

Calum was just as good as Ashton was, probably better even. The only reason coach had made him the captain was because he radiated authority, had the qualities of a true leader and Calum didn’t; he had said so himself when coach had asked to be a co-captain. 

 

Luke and Michael were waiting for them when the two football players stepped out of the locker room, their hair wet and clothes fresh. The youngest of the group automatically moved to Ashton, letting himself be wrapped in his strong arms.

“You smell nice.” He murmured while pressing his nose against the boy’s neck.

“Thanks” Ashton giggled and Calum made a fake gagging sound. Ashton could feel Luke’s cheeks heating up once again and he wondered if he would ever stop doing that. It wasn’t like he minded but he was actually starting to feel sorry for the boy.

“Let’s go home, yeah?” he whispered to the boy, pulling him even closer to himself before loosening his grip again so the boy could still breath.

 

\---

 

As soon as Luke had unlocked the front door, Ashton walked over to the couch and let himself fall down, his body taking up the entire piece of furniture.

“What?” He giggled when he noticed the younger boy shaking his head at him.

“You already feel at home, don’t you?” he asked fondly and Ashton flashed him a bright smile.

“Nah, I am just tired.” He giggled. Luke and him both knew it was just a joke; Ashton really did feel at home at Luke’s place.

It might have something to do with the fact that this was Luke’s home, the place he had spent most of his time in the last twelve years.

 

The sophomore walked over to the corner where Ashton’s head was rested, telling him to make some room so he could sit as well. The senior sat up and as soon as Luke was seated, Ashton dropped his head on his lap, blinking up at him innocently.

The blonde rolled his eyes but Ashton could see the fond in his features which made him grin; he knew the boy was just as gone for him as he was for Luke.

 

Luke’s fingers ran through Ashton’s damp hair, gently massaging his scalp, and the tired boy knew it wouldn’t take long before he would fall asleep.

“Wake me when it’s time to make dinner?” he asked the boy with his eyes closed and he could hear the boy above him hum while he searched for something interesting for him to watch.

 

Luke’s parents both were out of town and they had said they wouldn’t be back until midnight.

Ashton had offered the sophomore to keep him company and to help him with cooking dinner right away and obviously, Luke hadn’t said no.

It felt quite domestic, if Ashton was being honest, falling asleep on the couch after school and training and knowing they were going to cook and eat dinner together, watch movies and maybe, hopefully, fall asleep in Luke’s bed together. Ashton’s mum had already told him she didn’t have any problems with that as long as he was being responsible since Luke was ‘only a kid’. Ashton had turned eighteen a few weeks ago - which made him only two years older than Luke - but he still knew what his mum had been talking about.

Sixteen and eighteen might not sound like a big age gap but people grow so much in those two years, and not just physically.

 

Ashton had no idea how long he had been out. All he remembered was falling asleep with Luke’s fingers moving through his slowly drying hair and him occasionally laughing at the tv.

He had turned on his side in his sleep so when he opened his eyes all he saw was black. It took a while for him to realize it was Luke’s shirt he was looking at, and he blushed a little when he realized how close his face was to the boy’s abdomen.

He quickly turned so he was lying on his back again, his head shifting a bit so it was further away from Luke’s crotch, like it had been before he had fallen asleep.

“Morning.” The youngest joked, looking down at Ashton.

The eldest was about to say something about how it wasn’t fair Luke looked good even in this position, looking down and with a slight double chin, but he figured that would probably sound pretty creepy so he opted to just smile sheepishly.

“We should start with dinner now… I’m starving.” Luke said and Ashton sat up automatically.

He watched as his boy got up and walked towards the kitchen. His eyes widened the slightest bit when he noticed he wasn’t wearing his beanie, his ears standing up from his head proudly. He quickly got up and followed the boy into the kitchen, wanting to reach out and touch but instead he shoved his hands in the back pockets of his tight jeans.

“What are we making?” he asked the boy while he kept looking at the boy’s cute, limp ear, watched it move as he was clearly focusing on Ashton.

“Lasagna.”

“Nice!”

“Do you know how to make it?” Ashton questioned after looking at the boy reading something off of his phone.

“Nope.” He answered, popping the p and the eldest chuckled.

“Is it too early to give up and order pizza?” Luke turned around after he had read what Ashton thought was the recipe and he gave the senior his best puppy dog eyes.

“Give up? I don’t even know what that means!” the eldest giggled and he took the boy’s phone from him, reading the recipe as well.

How hard could it be?

 

\---

 

“It isn’t half bad Ash…” Luke said after he had taken his first, careful bite and Ashton rolled his eyes at the boy fondly.

“No need to sound so surprised. I cook for Harry and Lauren all the time.” He told the boy opposite of him.

They were seated at Luke’s dinner table, facing each other while eating the lasagne Ashton had made. It was a bit too dark for Ashton didn’t really know how Luke’s stove worked but it was still good enough to eat.

He took a bite himself and he had to agree with Luke; it wasn’t bad but it wasn’t his best either.

 

They ate in silence and Ashton didn’t mean for it to happen but somehow his eyes kept finding their way back to the top of the sophomore’s head.

The boy’s ears were relaxed, barely moving as the boy ate in peace. Every now and then they’d move forward a bit and Ashton guessed he could hear things Ashton couldn’t.

He imagined touching them once again and he hoped he finally could tonight.

When his eyes moved downward, their eyes met and Ashton just knew Luke had caught him staring. He smiled apologetic at the boy. He didn’t really respond. The eldest figured it was new for Luke as well, to show off his ears to someone other than his parents and brothers.

 

“What do you wanna do know?” Luke asked after they had put the dirty dishes in the dishwasher, looking at Ashton expectantly.

“Nothing. I wanna do absolutely nothing. Except for cuddling, maybe.” He chuckled and Luke nodded.

“You like Marvel, right?” the youngest asked.

Ashton nodded. Of course he did; who didn’t?

“Okay, I am going to change into something more comfy and then we are going to watch superhero movies until we pass out.” The boy chuckled and Ashton shook his head.

“It’s Wednesday… We have school tomorrow.” He pointed out but Luke didn’t really seem to care. He quickly ran up the stairs, leaving Ashton in the middle of the living room, shaking his head again.

 

Ashton was seated on the couch, already putting on the movie when Luke came back, dressed in a hoodie and sweatpants.

“Do you want a beer?” he asked Ashton and well, that was quite a stupid question.

“Yeah.” He said distractedly while he tried to figure out how to turn on the sound on Luke’s stupid tv.

Suddenly, something in the corner of his eyes caught his attention.

He looked up to see Luke walking away from him, towards the kitchen and…

Ashton’s mouth fell open.

That was a fucking tail, sticking out of a – probably purposely made – hole in his pants.

Okay, yeah, obviously Luke had already told him about that and he definitely hadn’t forgotten about it but, there it was; right in front of him, for the very first time.

The tail was longer than Ashton had expected. It almost reached the blonde boy’s knees.

It was almost the same colour of the hybrid-boy’s ears, just a bit darker.

Ashton noticed it somehow looked quite strong, like it would hurt if he’d get hit by it.

 

“What you staring at?” Luke muttered shyly, probably already knowing the answer.

“I’m sorry, it’s just... It’s so beautiful.” Ashton said, carefully reaching out his hand towards it.

“Can I?” he asked, locking eyes with Luke and the boy bit his lip before nodding again; he looked like the Luke Ashton had met a little over two weeks ago: shy, nervous and somehow younger than he was, his eyes big, blue and uncertain.

Ashton reached out his hand a tiny bit further, his fingers gently moving over the hairs on Luke’s tail. It was softer than he had expected.

He kept petting the tail for another ten seconds before he snapped back to it, realizing how creepy he must look petting the tail while Luke was facing the tv who still wasn’t playing the movie they were supposed to watch.

So he pulled back his hand, finally managed to turn on the volume of the movie, pressed play and lay back, looking up at the sophomore expectantly.

The boy giggled a bit, all nervousness forgotten, and carefully laid down on top of Ashton’s strong chest. His legs rested in between Ashton’s and the older boy wrapped his arms around Luke’s waist tightly.  

He kissed the boy’s lips once and then turned his face to the side so he could watch the movie he had already seen at least five times before.

 

It didn’t take long before Ashton’s grip loosened on the younger boy. His fingers started tracing patterns on top of Luke’s back, his hands slowly moving up until they had reached his neck, the tops of his fingers playing with the little hairs there.

Luke shuddered a bit from the touch and Ashton smiled up at him. Their faces were so close now, Ashton just couldn’t resist anymore.

He reached up and kissed Luke again, his lips pressing against the blonde boy’s firmly, Iron Man completely forgotten.

His eyes shot open when he felt something brushing against his legs and looked to find Luke’s tail wagging from side to side. Luke lifted himself up on his elbows a bit and Ashton saw the worry on his face. His tail had stopped wagging and his ears were pulled back, lying almost completely flat against his head and Ashton didn’t like that look at all; he looked like a kicked puppy – no pun intended.

“I am sorry…” he began but Ashton cut him off.

“Why? You have no reason to be sorry.” He told the boy.

“It’s just… I can’t really control it when it isn’t tucked….” He said, biting his bottom lip and Ashton’s thumb gently pulled it away from his teeth.

“It’s okay. It’s really cute actually.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.” Ashton smiled encouragingly at the boy.

 

He reached up once again, propping himself up on his elbows as well for he couldn’t reach the boy’s lips if he didn’t.

Their lips connected once again and he could feel Luke’s tail starting to wag again. He smiled in the kiss and then did something neither of them had done before; he licked the boy’s bottom lip, wanting to know how he’d react.

The sophomore whined almost inaudible so Ashton did it again, hoping he’d get the hint this time and open his mouth, let Ashton feel his tongue as well.

He did almost instantly and Ashton’s hand travelled up, searching its way towards Luke’s limp, (Ashton’s favourite) ear. His fingers scratched behind it and Luke’s head moved to the side, leaning in to the senior’s hand as on queue so Ashton scratched a bit harder.

Luke whined against Ashton’s mouth breathlessly and, honestly, the senior hadn’t really expected this reaction.

 

When the two pulled apart to catch their breath, Ashton’s fingers were still petting the ear on top of the boy’s head and the youngest didn’t really seem to mind. He lay back down, with his head on Ashton’s shoulder, facing the tv again.

They didn’t see all of the movie though, for they couldn’t really go long without kissing each other. None of them cared.


	7. Chapter 7

The football captain watched the boy who was still lying on top of him yawning for the third time in the last ten minutes, smiling at him fondly as he did.

“I think it’s time for bed, Lukey.” He told the boy but he shook his head.

“I don’t want you to go yet.” he argued.

“Who said I had to go?” Ashton asked and that seemed to catch the boy’s attention. He looked at the boy beneath him with big, surprised eyes and his tail started wagging the slightest bit, as if he didn’t want to get his hopes up yet.

“Can you stay Ash?” He asked, jutting out his bottom lip and making his blue eyes even bigger, and, seriously, how could Ashton ever say no to that?

“Sure.” He tried to say it casually but it came out quite enthusiastic.

“Let’s go to bed then!” Luke beamed, getting up and shutting off the tv, grabbing Ashton’s hand and pulling him towards the stairs. The eldest giggled all the way to Luke’s room.

 

Once there, the blonde dropped Ashton’s hand and looked at the ground between their feet.

“I kinda sleep in my boxers.” He muttered nervously.

“Me too.” Ashton shrugged and the boy looked up, his cheeks bright red.

“O-okay…”

The eldest was the first to pull off his shirt and Luke quickly followed, pulling of his hoodie and throwing it on a chair that was already covered in clothes.

It was a bit awkward, Ashton though. He wasn’t sure why, but it probably had something to do with the fact that they hadn’t been seeing each other for that long, had never gone further than making out and suddenly they were standing next to each other in nothing but their boxers. When he looked up he could see Luke’s quite broad shoulders – at least for a guy his age – and long, slim legs. He had a cute, soft-looking tummy Ashton kinda wanted to get his hands on.

When he looked up, he saw Luke taking in his body as well and he shifted a bit, feeling uncomfortable under the boy’s stares. He didn’t blame him though; he had done the exact same thing.

 

The awkwardness was gone as soon as they were under the covers and they both shuffled towards the middle of the bed, meeting each other halfway.

Ashton lay down on his back, his arm around the boy who curled up to his side, his head on Ashton’s toned chest.

His body was warm, the senior noticed, but it wasn’t a clammy kind of warmth; it was very nice, actually.

Luke yawned again and Ashton noticed how he pulled his ears back when he did that.

“Goodnight Lukey.” He told the boy, kissing the top of his head.

“Night.” Came the sleepy response.

 

“Hey Ashton?” Luke asked after fifteen minutes and though he had been close to falling asleep, the eldest was wide awake again.

“Yeah?”

“Do you think we would’ve ended up here if I hadn’t had my ears? Or if you hadn’t seen them?”

“Yeah, I do.” Ashton answered truthfully.

“Either Kevin would’ve picked on you for another reason and I would’ve done the exact same thing for you, or we would’ve met another way.”

He could feel Luke nodding, apparently satisfied with the answer he’d gotten.

 

“Hey Luke?” Ashton said after another five minutes. He really hoped the boy hadn’t fallen asleep yet; it was kinda important he knew this.

“Yeah?”

“I don’t like you because of your ears… I mean, I do like them and all but… I like you for you. You know that right?”

He didn’t get an answer right away.

But instead of saying anything, Luke propped himself up on his elbows a bit, placing his soft lips on Ashton’s gently.

“I know.” He mumbled after he pulled away and lay back down.

“Good.” Was the last thing that could be heard in the room before the two boys fell asleep.

 

\---

 

Ashton took Luke’s hand in his own as they made their way from his car to the school on Thursday morning.

 

Liz had made them breakfast and at first she hadn’t looked too happy about the fact that Ashton had spent the night but somehow she had relaxed when she had seen the older boy kissing Luke on top of his head and helping him putting on his beanie before leaving.

Ashton was pretty sure she’d have ‘the talk’ with Luke and him soon though; she looked like that kind of parent.

 

“Morning.” Calum chirped when he noticed the two and they both greeted him back happily.

“You two sound happy.” Michael remarked with a smirk and Ashton sent him a questioning look.

“I called you this morning but your mum told me you hadn’t come home last night.” He chuckled and Ashton rolled his eyes at him. Of course Michael would be the first to find out he hadn’t slept at home.

He looked at the boy next to him and found he was blushing as expected. He pressed a kiss to the boy’s temple to get him to calm down a little and, of course, his two so called best friends ‘awww’-d them, making Luke’s cheeks heat up even more.

 

Before he could even begin to explain that nothing had happened – which was ridiculous because it shouldn’t really matter what his friends thought – the bell rang.

Ashton pressed another kiss against the side of the sophomore’s head.

“I’ll see you at lunch, yeah?” he asked and the boy nodded before compulsory letting go of Ashton’s hand.

 

“Oh shut up Clifford.” Ashton said before the boy could even open his mouth. The grin on his face told the football captain that he, as expected, had been planning on making a comment about his night at Luke’s though. 

“So, is he your boyfriend yet?” Calum asked and, well, that was a question Ashton could tolerate.

“We didn’t really talk about it. I reckon we are though…” The elder of the three shrugged.

 

\---

 

Ashton could see Luke growing more and more comfortable with Ashton’s friends and the guys on the football team each day.

 

During lunch he had been talking to two of the biggest football players who didn’t have the best reputation of the school. He had been laughing with them while holding onto Ashton’s hand and the captain was proud of his football team for accepting his boy, but he was prouder of Luke; shy, little Luke who had been talking to people he didn’t really know but wanted to know because they were Ashton’s friends.

 

And now Calum, Michael, Luke and Ashton were in Ashton’s car, on their way to the oldest boy’s house. The two youngest were in the back, talking about music enthusiastically while Michael and Ashton were in a heated discussion about pizza toppings.

“You aren’t supposed to put pineapple on a pizza! It’s a fruit, you can’t heat that up.” Michael argued, his voice rising with every word he spoke.

“Of course you can, it’s fucking delicious.” Ashton shot back while keeping his eyes on the road.

“People like you can’t be trusted. Pineapple pizzas are disgusting.” Michael said and the footie captain rolled his eyes.

“Not everybody likes the same kind of food Michael. Calum likes sushi and you don’t, but you guys are still friends. Why can’t that be the same with pineapple on pizza?” Ashton tried to reason, sounding a bit offended now but Michael simply shook his head.

“Nope. Pineapple on pizza is a whole different story than raw fish with sticky rice.” He pointed out but before Ashton could tell him that was complete and utter bullshit, Luke interrupted them.

“Guys.” He said, and somehow that shut them both up immediately.

“Cal and I wanna jam today, you guys in?”

Ashton looked at the blonde through his rear view mirror and could see the hopeful and enthusiastic smile on his face. Of course he was going to say yes.

“Yeah sure. Wanna drive by your houses to pick up your guitars?” He suggested and Luke nodded gratefully.

Michael apparently forgot all about his hatred for pineapple pizzas for he started naming songs he’d like to play with his friends that afternoon.

 

They drove by Calum, Michael and Luke’s house to pick up the guitars and then drove towards Ashton’s house. It was a bit of a tight fit in Ashton’s old and small car and Luke and Calum both had a guitar on their lap for the trunk wasn’t big enough for more than one instrument.  It wasn’t a long drive though so none of them complained.

 

They didn’t grab a drink and a snack first, like they usually did. Instead, they walked towards Ashton’s garage in a beeline, not wanting to waste any more time. Ashton wasn’t sure what to expect though. He knew Michael could play pretty much every guitar solo there was and Calum usually played the bass lines on his acoustic guitar and he knew Luke had an amazing voice, but that didn’t mean they would automatically sound good together.

He opened the door towards his garage and watched Luke walking over to his drum kit with certain awe in his eyes. His fingers gently touched one of the cymbals.

“Your fond is showing.” Calum told Ashton from where he was standing next to him and the eldest playfully hit his shoulder to shut him up.

 

The eldest sat down behind his kit and the other three took their guitars out of their cases, quickly making sure they were still tuned while arguing over which song they were going to play first.

“I say we play ‘Love Like War’ by All Time Low.” Michael said, but Calum shook his head.

“I don’t think that would work without electric guitars and bass.” He reasoned and Michael sighted, knowing he was right.

 

“Do you guys know ‘The One’ by Kodaline?” Luke asked suddenly. He had been quiet for a while, listening to the bickering of the other three.

All three heads turned to face him.

“I don’t, but I don’t really need to know a song to play along I guess.” Ashton mumbled.

Calum and Michael both nodded, telling Luke without words they knew the song.

They didn’t seem very enthusiastic about it but they did seem willing to give it a try, so Ashton decided they were going to do that song; if they didn’t pick one now, they’d never come to an agreement.

“I think you’d better play the cajon then.” Calum said and Ashton quickly grabbed the box, placed it so the four of them were in a circle and sat down on top of it.

“Do you wanna start Luke?” Michael asked, and the boy nodded.

“Cal can do the first chorus and we will just see how it goes from there I guess.” The red haired said and they all agreed.

The three guitarists started strumming their guitars and Luke’s eyes turned to the ground as he started singing.

 

_Tell me, tell me that you want me and I’ll be yours completely for better or for worse._

Ashton watched Luke as he sang, his face softening as he took in the words. He knew it weren’t words Luke had written and he knew they weren’t directed towards Ashton but it still felt so intimate; he couldn’t look away from the sophomore.

 

_I know we’ll have our disagreements, be fighting for no reason._

_I wouldn’t change it for the world._

The eldest noticed his two best friends looking at him while Luke was still staring at the floor, enormous grins on their faces for they knew exactly what Ashton was thinking about right now; they could probably see it in his face or whatever.

 

_‘Cause I knew the first day that I met you, I was never gonna let you, let you slip away._

_And I still remember feeling nervous, trying to find the words to get you here today._

As stated previously, Ashton knew very well Luke had not written these words but he might as well have; they fit him quite well.

 

Luke stopped singing and he looked up at Calum expectantly but no sound came out of the raven haired boy’s mouth. He just nodded at Luke who blushed and picked the song up again.

 

_You make my heart feel like it’s summer, when the rain is pouring down._

_You make my whole world feel so right when it’s wrong._

_That’s how I know you are the one._

_That’s why I know you are the one._

Ashton was sure he was wearing the biggest, goofiest smile he could muster but he really didn’t care. He just nodded at Calum to thank him for letting Luke continuing and then he finally joined in with his cajon.

 

Michael sang a high pitched ‘wooo’ and then Calum started singing.

 

_Life; it’s easy to be scared of. With you I am prepared for what is yet to come._

_‘Cause our two hearts will make it easy, joining up the pieces, together making one._

 

Ashton was still staring at Luke during those two verses and when Luke looked up, their eyes met and they both blushed a bit and smiled shyly at each other.

The senior’s heart skipped a beat or two and he wished he could just walk over to the boy and kiss his face off but they were in the middle of a song and he was sure his two best friends wouldn’t appreciate it that much.

 

Luke started singing the chorus again and Ashton tried to sing along as much as possible. He had to admit it didn’t sound perfect yet for he didn’t know all the right words but it was good enough for now.

 

Calum and Luke sang the bridge together, with Michael harmonizing and Ashton wishing he knew the song.

 

_When we are together you make my feel like my mind is free and my dreams are reachable._

_You know I never ever believed in love, I believed one day that you would come along and free me._

Luke did look at Ashton now and his entire body heated up with what he thought could only be described as love and though that thought scared him a little, he didn’t mind one bit.

 

They repeated the chorus once again, all four of them singing the words and then a silence fell over them.

 

“Well, that wasn’t half bad.”

Michael was the one to break the quite heavy but not uncomfortable silence and they all looked at him. Ashton simply knew he was going to suggest a heavier song next.

“Can we please play ‘American Idiot’ now?”   


\---

 

Calum and Michael had only just left when Anne Marie came home.

Luke and Ashton were in their usual position on the couch, Ashton on his back and the sophomore on top of him with his face hidden in the crook of Ashton’s neck while the oldest boy’s hands were tracing patterns in his back.

Luke’s head shot up when he heard the front door and he tried to get up but the senior kept his strong arms around him.

“Ash, your mum…” he said as he kept squirming.

“Won’t kill you for lying on top of me.” Ashton finished before kissing Luke’s forehead.

The door from the small hallway to the living door opened and the two boys watched as she curiously took in the scene in front of her.

“You must be Luke.” She offered the boy a kind smile. Ashton finally let go of the blonde so he could get up and introduce himself properly though he didn’t really like the source of his warmth being gone.

“I’m Anne Marie.”

“Hi, nice to meet you.” The sophomore told her politely as they shook hands.

“You too! I’ve heard so much about you.” She told him and Ashton really hoped she wasn’t going to tell him about how Ashton hasn’t really stopped talking about Luke since that first Monday.

“Are you staying for dinner?” his mother asked Luke and before the boy could answer Ashton quickly said “Yeah, he is.”

His mother sent him a disapproving look, telling her son without words that Luke could talk for himself and then looked at the younger boy expectantly.

“Uhm, yeah, if that’s okay with you…”

“Of course it is dear, I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t mean it.” She winked.

“Lauren and Harry will be home in thirty minutes or so but you’ve already met them, am I right?”

“Yes ma’am.” Luke answered politely and she smiled at the boy.

“Please call me Anne.” She smiled and Luke nodded; Ashton could tell he was a bit nervous around his mother and he figured it was because he wanted to make a good first impression.

 

While Anne made dinner, Ashton and Luke watched some tv together, Luke now sitting next to the senior instead of lying on top of him, much to Ashton’s disappointment.

 

Lauren and Harry joined them soon enough, Lauren letting herself fall on top of her older brother’s lap and kissing his cheek sloppily, making the boy giggle a bit.

“How was school then?” he asked the girl and she started telling about some project her history teacher had assigned and the boy she was paired up with and how much she liked him and how her friends were jealous of her because of him and, long story short, Ashton couldn’t really keep up with the story.

Luke watched them with what Ashton figured was a fond smile and he winked at the boy; he didn’t look away and he barely blushed this time. Ashton thought that was a good thing.

 

Lauren didn’t really shut up during dinner and Ashton figured it was just part of her growing up and being enthusiastic about the world she was discovering day by day. Her big brother didn’t really care and Luke didn’t seem to mind either. He replied to her from time to time and he actually giggled with her when she told the story about how another cute boy had asked her to play together after school the other day.

Ashton loved how well Luke fit in his with his family, how much it seemed like he had never not been part of it. He still officially wasn’t but Ashton was planning on changing that soon.

He just needed to figure out how. 


	8. Chapter 8

Ashton kept his two cards tightly against his chest to make sure his sister didn’t peak and tell everybody what colour his last two cards were. He was giggling non-stop because his siblings were so annoyed for Ashton was close to winning yet another round of Uno.

Ashton _always_ won. There hadn’t been one day where they had played and he hadn’t won.

It was probably because his siblings were still young and because his mother still let her son win, despite him being an (almost) adult.

 

“I think Ashton cheats.” Harry pouted when he placed down another card, yelling ‘Uno’ because he had only one left.

“Yeah, me too.” Luke joked before not so subtly winking at the older boy, making sure he knew it was just a joke. That was so typically Luke; he didn’t like making jokes about other people, didn’t like the idea of people thinking he thought badly of them.

“Prove it!” Ashton giggled while his mother put down a red seven even though he knew she had a red +2 card. She just didn’t want Lauren to have to add yet another two cards to her already huge pile of cards even though that was the whole point of the game.

The young girl placed a green seven on top of it with a happy smile on her face and then it was Harry’s turn.

He furrowed his brows as he scanned his hand full of cards. Luke leaned in a bit so he could have a look as well and Ashton noticed his whole face lighting up before leaning even further in, whispering something into Harry’s ear.

The youngest of the five grinned mischievously and Ashton knew it couldn’t mean much good for Luke.

The boy placed down a green +2 card and Luke was quick to throw a +4 card on top of it, smirking at Ashton as he did.

“What!?” The football captain exclaimed when he realized he had to add six cards to his last red one.

“That’s not fair.” He pouted at Luke who simply shrugged.

“That’s how the game works Ashy.” Lauren sang, mocking Ashton by using the words he had said to her only ten minutes or so ago.

The dirty blonde then pouted at her but it obviously didn’t work.

“This game sucks.” He whined childishly, causing his mother the scold him for his choice of words.

 

Ten minutes later, Harry had won and everybody knew it was thanks to Luke but nobody said a word about it.

Luke told about how well he had done and the young boy beamed with so much pride, Ashton just knew he’d be bragging about this night for _weeks._ Not that he cared though.

 

“Okay, it really is time for bed now. You both still have school tomorrow.” She said, ushering her two youngest kids towards the stairs leading towards their bedroom.

The two started whining right away, trying to convince their mum they weren’t tired yet and that Luke had promised them they’d finish Brave the next time he’d come over.

Ashton knew his mum didn’t always find it easy to be stern so he decided to step in.

“Guys!” he said, making the two look at him.

“It’s passed your bedtime already, I am sure Luke won’t mind coming back on Saturday.” He said without looking over to Luke to make sure he was okay with it because technically he hadn’t promised them anything yet.

“But Ashton, he said…”

“I know what he said, he just didn’t know the next time he would come back would be on a Thursday. Just be glad mum let you finish the game. Now go or you aren’t allowed to stay up tomorrow.” Ashton said, lowering his voice a little to make sure his siblings knew he meant it.

They eventually gave in with a scowl on their face and his mother sighed before smiling at her oldest son.

“Thanks.” She told him and he waved his hand at her to let her know it was no big deal at all. It really wasn’t; he was just doing his duty as the man of the house.

 

“I’m sorry I promised them to watch the movie without asking you about it first.” Luke said from where he was seated on the couch. Ashton could see he really was more sorry than he should be.

“Don’t be, you couldn’t have known.” He told the boy. He was the youngest himself, he didn’t know how hard it could be to have younger siblings sometimes. Besides, he had just wanted the kids to like him.

“Now come here.” Ashton said, chuckling as he made grabby hands for the blonde. He knew his mum would be back in ten minutes or so and Luke would make sure to keep a certain distance between them again and Ashton didn’t like that at all.

The boy only shuffled a little closer to the older boy so he wrapped his strong arms around the boy and pulled him in his lap, faking loud kissing noises as he placed a few kisses on the boy’s cheek, causing Luke to giggle. Ashton, for he loved the sound so much, decided to tickle the boy’s sides, making him almost cry from laughing so hard and trying to tell the older boy to stop.

 

“Your family is amazing Ash.” The youngest told him after he had managed to catch his breath again, smiling down at Ashton.

“I love your mother, she is so kind.”

“Yeah, she’s the best.” The senior agreed.

“Your mum is really sweet too, though I am not sure if she likes as much as my mum likes you.” Ashton only half joked.

“Oh, she will come around. She’s just more protective over me since I am the youngest and… yeah…” Luke said without meeting Ashton’s eyes. The eldest gently grabbed his chin and lifted it so the hybrid boy was forced to face him.

“I’ll never hurt you and I will do whatever I can to make sure no one else will either. I don’t care if your mother believes that or not; as long as you do.” Ashton told him.

Luke nodded.

“I know.”

Ashton leaned in, firmly pressing his lips against Luke’s and he could feel the younger boy smiling against his lips before kissing back.

Too soon, the boy pulled back but he rested his forehead against Ashton’s, his eyes closed as he sighed contently.

 

Then, within two seconds, Luke shot up from his spot on Ashton’s lap and sat down next to him, leaving at least three inches of empty space between their bodies.

At first, the dirty blonde had looked a bit confused but then he noticed his mum walking in and he got it; of course Luke had already heard her coming. This hearing thing of his was both a blessing and a curse.

 

“Thanks for helping Harry win tonight, Luke.” Anne Marie smiled warmly at the boy next to her son as soon as she sat down.

“He wouldn’t shut up about how happy he was he had finally beat Ash.”

“Ashton really is his biggest example so it means a lot.” And okay, now it was Ashton’s turn to blush.

Luke nodded, apparently completely understanding.

“I have the same with Ben, my oldest brother.” He informed the woman.

“Oh, you have a brother? That’s is really nice. How old is he?” she wanted to know.

“I have two actually. Jack and Ben. Ben is twenty-four and he is married and he has daughter. Jack is twenty and he is in college.” Luke told her.

“Jack was my football captain two years ago.” Ashton quickly explained to his mum when he noticed the name rang a bell.

“Oh, yeah I remember him. You don’t look much like him though.” Anne Marie chuckled and Ashton looked at Luke to gauge his reaction, to see if he minded hearing people pointing that out since he was adopted and all.

His face barely changed though but Ashton could still see it affected him a bit. He hid it very well.

“Yeah, I know. I’ve got my mum’s looks.” He chuckled politely and Anne Marie nodded, completely buying into the lie.

Ashton wasn’t surprised Luke used that excuse though; his mum was the only one in the family with blonde hair. Her eyes were blue too but not as bright as Luke’s but she could still pass as Luke’s biological mother, Ashton guessed.

 

They chatted about Luke’s family for another ten minutes or so when the boy’s cell phone rang. He mumbled a ‘hi’ into it and Ashton watched him frown a bit.

“Yeah, okay.”

“No, that’s okay, I’ll ask Ash.”

“Yeah, I will. Love you.”

He hung up and then pouted at Ashton.

“Mum wants me to come home.” He told the older boy.

“Okay. Do you want me to bring you home or is she picking you up?” the eldest asked, ignoring the fact that it was only ten o’clock. He told himself the boy’s mother just wanted what was best for him.

“Can you bring me home?” Luke asked and Ashton quickly nodded before getting up and getting his keys.

He watched from the hallway as his mother pulled the short blonde boy in a warm hug, saw the boy blushing a bit at first but quickly relaxing in her embrace. That was just the effect his mother had on people, Ashton guessed.

“It was really nice to finally meet my son’s boyfriend.” She smiled at the boy after she had released him and Ashton watched him blush and look away with a soft smile on his face.

“Ready to go?” he asked, deciding it was time to save the boy from his mum.

“Yeah.” Luke said, his cheeks still pink.

 

\---

 

“Thanks for the ride.” Luke said as he kept his hand on the car door handle, not wanting to get out yet.

“No problem.” Ashton smiled at the boy who started leaning forward to thank the older boy properly.

 

“Your mum thought I was you boyfriend…” he chuckled shyly when he pulled away.

“Yeah, I know.” The senior smiled.

“Do you mind?” he asked; he figured he didn’t, but he had to be sure.

“No…” Luke said.

“It actually sounded pretty great.” He looked at his fingers as he admitted it.

“So does this mean I get to call you my boyfriend from now on?” Ashton asked cheekily, watching the corner of Luke’s mouth pull upwards just second before he nodded and turned to kiss Ashton once more.

“Yeah, that would be great actually.” he mumbled against the older boy’s lips; Ashton made a mental note to thank his mum rather sooner than later.

The football players hand moved up to cup Luke’s cheek, his thumb caressing the skin gently. He felt Luke shyly opening his mouth and licking over Ashton’s bottom lip, which was something he hadn’t done before. Until tonight, it had only been Ashton who had deepened their kisses. Ashton didn’t mind this though; he didn’t mind one bit.

He parted his lips as well, letting his tongue meet Luke’s, tasting the coke he had been drinking only minutes ago.

Ashton’s neck was starting to hurt from the uncomfortable position they were in but he didn’t want to be the first to pull back. Eventually he had no other choice though for, despite Luke being his biggest priority at the moment, breathing was still kinda important if he wanted to stay alive.

“My mum’s watching.” Luke whispered after he had glanced at his house, as if it was some sort of secret.

“Yeah?” Ashton whispered back, kinda wanting to kiss Luke again so they knew for sure she had seen it but also not wanting Luke to do anything he wasn’t comfortable with.

“Yeah.” He nodded, biting his bottom lip before quickly kissing Ashton again. It was just his lips against Ashton’s now, nothing more, but it still made the senior’s heart beat out of his chest.

“Rebellious.” He winked cheekily at his _boyfriend,_ causing him to giggle _._

Fuck, it sounded good, even if it was just in his head.

 

“I’ll see you tomorrow babe.” He called after Luke who turned around and furrowed his brows at the nickname. The prominent smile on his face gave away he did like it though so Ashton didn’t worry about it. 


	9. Chapter 9

“Hi there, _boyfriend.”_ Luke giggled when Ashton pulled him in his lap during lunch, causing the whole table to stare at them, including Michael and Calum.

The couple just chuckled and Ashton pressed a kiss on top of Luke’s nose, making some of the older boys laugh and Luke, obviously, blushed. 

“So it’s official then, eh?” Calum asked right before Michael added:

“Well good luck with that idiot Luke”, earning a slap across the chest from his oldest friend.

Luke just giggled a ‘thanks’ and hugged Ashton a little tighter.

 

“What did your mum say?” the football captain asked his boyfriend, referring to the night before. They hadn’t seen each other that morning for Ashton had had some things to discuss with coach for the game tonight.

“Nothing.” Luke shrugged.

“Just that she thought I should’ve gone home earlier since I still had school today.”

Ashton nodded at that, glad his boy hadn’t gotten in trouble for being caught kissing Ashton or whatever; the elder still wasn’t sure what to think of the boy’s mother.

 

He picked up a single fry from his plate and held it in front of Luke’s mouth. The young boy looked at him with raised eyebrows as if he was saying ‘seriously?’ but he opened his mouth anyways, letting Ashton feed him.

“You guys suck.” Michael groaned when he noticed Ashton picking up another fry and holding it out for Luke to take.

“Nah, it would be pretty soon for that, don’t you think?” the eldest of the four pointed out dryly, causing Calum to choke on his water and Luke squealing before hiding his flustered face in the crook of Ashton’s neck.

Michael chuckled loudly and high-fived his friend, making the others on their table wonder what was going on. None of them asked though; they never did when Michael was involved.

 

\---

 

The crowd was going completely insane. Ashton had guessed there were about three or four hundred people there for them and they were all making as much noise as possible for Ashton’s team was very close to winning the first game of the season.

He tried to block all those sounds, only concentrated on his team mates and, of course, their coach.

 

He could hear Calum screaming his name next to him and his eyes searched the field, noticing the boy was currently running next to him, only one guy in between them.

Ashton only had to maintain eye contact with the raven haired boy for half a second and somehow, the younger boy knew exactly what his captain expected him to do.

He ran a bit harder so Ashton did the same, quickly passing the football to the boy while they ran towards the opposite team’s goal side by side, one of their teammates closely behind them.

Pretty much everything around him was a blur; he didn’t see anything but the ball, Calum, the goalie and the goal and he didn’t hear much more than the rush of blood in his ears.

They had about five minutes left and it was a tie at the moment. His team didn’t really have to win tonight - it wouldn’t be the end of the world if they didn’t - but still; Ashton knew they could do better than a tie.

 

Ashton didn’t see one of the defence guys running his way, running into him and purposely knocking him to the ground.

His face came in contact with the dirty ground but he quickly placed his hands on the mud beneath him and pushed his upper body up, watching as Calum approached the goal alone.

Ashton trusted the boy could still score, even if there wasn’t someone to pass the ball to but he got up anyways and ran towards him, his knee hurting and mud soaking his clothes.

Before he could even reach Calum, he already drew his leg back, kicked the ball towards the right corner of the goal and scored.

The crowd completely lost it, jumping up and down on the small stand and chanting Calum’s name.

The raven haired boy came running towards his captain with the biggest smile on his face and he threw himself in Ashton’s outstretched arms, the rest of their team gathering around them and joining the hug.

“Are you okay?” Calum asked him after they had been released by the guys again and they were running back to their own half of the field, planning to only focus on defending their own goal for the few remaining minutes. Ashton nodded quickly; he had already forgotten about his minor injuries.

 

The referee blew his whistle, signalling the game was over and Ashton’s team had won. Once again, the boy found himself right in the middle of a group hug.

 

As soon as he had the chance, he ran over to where he knew his family, Calum’s family, Michael and Luke were seated.

The crowd was slowly leaving the stand and people he barely knew patted him on the back and congratulated him. He politely nodded at them or thanked them but his eyes never stopped searching for a certain blonde boy with a black beanie.

“Hey, good job Irwin.” A tanned girl with dark brown hair came into view.

“Your little bro was the real MVP tonight... As always” He shrugged at Mali who beamed at him.

“Yeah I know, but you really made your team one… Cal wouldn’t be able to score if his team and his captain didn’t have his back.” She winked. Ashton knew what she was talking about; last year, after Jack Hemmings had graduated, the team had fallen apart. The captain had been too proud to pass the ball to other players and no matter how many times coach told him there wasn’t an i in team, he still had managed to ruin the team completely. Admittedly, he had been _very_ good. But being good alone doesn’t make you a decent captain and doesn’t lead your team towards victory.

Luckily, their coach and Ashton had managed to rebuild the team a few weeks after that guy had graduated, causing them to finally win games again. 

 

“Ashton!” it was his little brother’s voice that pulled him from his train of thoughts. He looked up to find Harry walking towards him, his hand holding onto Luke’s tightly.

Ashton grinned when he noticed the beanie his boyfriend was wearing.

“Nice colour.” He pointed out.

Luke wore a Bordeaux red beanie, the colour matching Ashton’s shirt.

“Thanks. Michael bought it.”

“It looks really good on you.”

Before he could say anything else, Luke threw himself in his arms, hugging him tight.

“You were really good tonight.” He half whispered.

“Luke, you can hug me after I take a shower.” He chuckled, trying to push the boy off of him as gently as possible.

“No.” the boy grumbled, burying his face in the crook of Ashton’s neck.

“But I’m covered in sweat and mud.” The senior pointed out. He wanted to add ‘and blood’ but he knew it would have his boyfriend worried so he decided to ignore that little detail, hoping Luke wouldn’t see it after letting go.

“I don’t care.” The youngest muttered stubbornly, still not letting go of the captain.

The eldest sighted but wasn’t able to wipe the fond smile off of his own face. His mother saw this and winked at him.

“Come on lovebirds, we gotta celebrate.” Calum called, earning everybody’s attention now. Ashton blushed a little when he noticed his teammate’s mother and sister chuckling at him and the body that was practically glued to his own, though he wasn’t sure why.

“Baby.” He whispered.

“I really need to go shower now. Coach likes to speech after a game and I sorta need to be there.” He mumbled against Luke’s beanie, where he knew his ear was.

The youngest quickly pressed his lips to the skin that was closest to his lips, which happened to be Ashton’s collarbone, and then finally let go of him. Ashton couldn’t wait till he could take a warm shower because he already missed his boy’s body heat.

 

\---

 

“That’s better, innit?” Ashton giggled when he stepped out of the locker room, most of his teammates long gone. Luke took in his wet hair and clean clothes and nodded. He took Ashton’s way larger hand in his own and they made their way towards where Ashton and Calum’s families and Michael and Calum were waiting for them.

 

Michael got into Joy’s car and Luke, Harry and Ashton were squeezed into the backseat of Anne Marie’s car while Lauren sat in the front; the oldest brother had only allowed that so he could be close to his favourite person in the world.

Luke, who was sat in the middle, rested his head on the football player’s shoulder.

“You smell nice.” He commented tiredly and Ashton felt a bit sorry for him; he probably wouldn’t be home and in his bed any time soon.

It had become a tradition to go out after a game, whether Calum and Ashton had won or not.

They would go to Calum’s favourite ice cream place, eat ice cream until their stomachs hurt and then they’d go to either the Hoods or the Irwins where the boys would drink a beer or two despite Calum and Michael still being underage (Joy always said she’d rather have them drinking at their home instead of at some party) and the parents would drink red wine. Michael’s parents would often join them as well.

Ashton loved it, loved spending time with his and his friends’ families. They had known each other for so long, it was almost as if they were one big family instead three small ones.

 

“Ah, there are our star players!” A familiar voice called as soon as the group all had decided what flavour of ice cream they wanted and after Joy had paid for all of it. 

“Daryl! Glad you could make it man.” David, Calum’s father greeted him when he noticed Michael’s parents at their usual booth.

“Yeah, we couldn’t make it to the game but we didn’t want to miss the first party of the season.” Karen smiled as Joy and Anne Marie sat down next to her, ready to tell her all about the game she had missed.

“Oh, and who might you be?” Karen suddenly asked before any of the women could open their mouth.

“I’m Luke.” The boy blushed when all eyes turned towards him.

“He’s Ashy’s boyfriend.” Harry explained to Karen and the captain could tell the smaller boy was trying to hide behind his shoulder as much as possible.

“Lovely!” Karen exclaimed happily.

“I am Karen and my husband’s name is Daryl. We’re Michael’s parents.” She told the young blonde.

“Nice to meet you.” Luke mumbled politely.

Soon enough, Anne Marie and Joy enthusiastically started telling the two who had missed the game how amazing their sons had been, Luke long forgotten.

Ashton rolled his eyes at his team mate – their mothers _always_ did this - and then sat down next to his sister.

He pulled his boyfriend as close to him as possible and kissed his cheek.

“Ready to overdose on ice cream?” he asked the boy when he noticed the girl who had taken their order walking over with an enormous plate full of large sundaes.

“Born ready.” Was Luke’s response.

Ashton knew from experience he would regret it in twenty minutes.

 

\---

 

“I am not touching food for another five days.” Luke whined as he plopped down on Ashton’s couch, his hands on his tummy.

Anne Marie was handing out glasses of beer and wine but pretty much everyone declined for they were still too full from the ice cream they had been eating.

“I thought you were born ready.” Ashton teased, poking the boy in the side, making him squeal.

“I was wrong. Nobody could’ve prepared me for that.” He mumbled, causing everybody to laugh at him although their stomachs hurt just as much.

The team captain wasn’t sure why they kept doing this to themselves; they all knew it was impossible to finish that amount of ice cream and Ashton and Calum always felt like they had to train for at least ten hours to get rid of the calories they consumed after every game.

 

There was some music playing in the background and Harry and Lauren had gone to bed thirty minutes ago, almost an hour after they had gotten home and by now, all of the parents had consumed at least two glasses of wine and all the ‘kids’ had been drinking beer except for Luke.

Ashton had only had three beers but he could still feel it for he didn’t really drink much yet.

His head felt a tiny bit lighter than it usually did and he giggled a lot louder at every single thing Michael, Calum or Luke said.

He was leaning against his boyfriend, the boy’s fingers combing through his hair and kissing his temple occasionally. Ashton could tell the boy was growing more comfortable around the adults and Ashton couldn’t be any prouder. It had taken him quite a while to get used to the team, a few days actually, and here he was with people even older, kissing and touching Ashton as if no one was around.

Okay, so maybe that wasn’t entirely true for they hadn’t kissed each other on the mouth or anything and god forbid they had used any tongue but still; this was quite a step for Luke already.

 

\---

 

“Mum, can I stay at Luke’s tonight?” Ashton asked his mother after the Cliffords and Hoods had gone home. Anne Marie had offered to bring Luke home for it was past midnight and she didn’t think it would be necessary to bother Luke’s parents. She had only been drinking one glass of wine anyways.

“If Luke’s parents don’t mind…” she shrugged, as expected.

“Oh, they won’t.” Luke assured his boyfriend’s mother quickly. Ashton was glad of it; his mother would probably have heard the doubt in his voice and wouldn’t have let him stay there.

 

Anne Marie dropped them off in front of the house and Luke took Ashton’s hand in his own, leading him towards the front door. He unlocked the front door and pushed it open softly, wanting to be as quiet as possible.

The eldest followed the blonde who seemed to know exactly where to put his foot on every step of the stairs in order not to make any sound.

This time, Luke didn’t hesitate to pull of his clothes. He threw his shirt to the floor, not caring where it would land and started undoing his belt. Ashton didn’t allow himself to watch for too long. He pulled his shirt over his head, messing up his hair in the process. When he looked up, he could see Luke’s tail wagging around as he pulled off his beanie and crawled into his bed, watching Ashton peeling of his tight, skinny jeans clumsily.

“I really hope my mum didn’t wait up for me.” The blonde whispered.

“She might not have my amazing sense of hearing but she still hears _everything_.”

“I’m sure she won’t be able to hear this.” Ashton said as he lifted up the blanket and scooted over so he was right next to Luke, placing his hand on his chest and kissing him on the lips for the first time that night.

 

He didn’t waste any time and quickly deepened the kiss; he couldn’t help it, it had been too long.

The hand that was on Luke’s chest moved up, cupping his cheek for a while before it travelled even further, scratching behind the hybrid boy’s ears.

Ashton could tell the boy liked it for he forgot to kiss back for a second or three, his mouth going almost completely slack against Ashton’s before he came to his senses again and sucked on the senior’s bottom lip.

 

Eventually, Ashton had to pull back. He had no choice.

It wasn’t like he didn’t want to kiss Luke anymore, no, not at all.

It was just… Ashton found he liked it too much.

He could feel himself getting too carried away as he kept touching Luke’s ear, hearing and feeling him whine against his lips as he did so and licking into his mouth as if he needed Luke more than he needed to breathe.

He had already felt himself getting a tiny bit too excited and he knew he had to stop if he didn’t want to get hard and maybe make Luke uncomfortable if he’d find out so he opted to pull back.

“We should get some sleep Lukey.” He told the boy softly as he brushed a blonde lock behind his human ear.

“Okay.” Luke’s breathing was a bit heavy and his face was flushed and damn, he just looked too pretty; it was almost impossible not to touch and kiss him 24/7.

So Ashton kissed his forehead, his temple, his cheek, his nose and eventually, his lips.

“Goodnight baby.” He mused, earning a sleepy smile from his boyfriend.

“Night, Ash.”


	10. Chapter 10

Ashton woke up with a warm body pressed against his own and soft snores where the only thing that could be heard in the room.

He blinked once, twice and then looked at the back of Luke’s head, smiling to himself because, even though he couldn’t see it, he knew exactly what his boyfriend looked like when he was sound asleep.

He also knew the boy could be quite (read: very) grumpy in the morning so Ashton didn’t dare wake him up.

He kissed the boy on top of his head and carefully climbed out of the bed even though he knew it wasn’t necessary. That boy was impossible to wake up, especially on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

 

Ashton put on the clothes he had been wearing after the game and made his way downstairs, hoping he’d find Jack or no one instead of Luke’s parents.

 

Of course he wasn’t that lucky: Liz was in the kitchen, preparing breakfast for herself. She looked up when she heard Ashton entering the kitchen and nodded politely at him.

“Morning.” She said, sounding anything but tired.

“Morning.” Ashton replied while sitting down, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

“I heard you won the game yesterday.” The blonde woman said and Ashton’s whole face lit up; he had almost forgotten about that.

“Yeah, we did.”

“Congratulations.”

“Do you want me to make you eggs as well?” She asked then.

“No thanks, I think I’ll wait for Luke.” He smiled at the woman who chuckled a little.

“Are you sure? He won’t be out of bed until two p.m. I’m afraid.”

“Oh…” Ashton mumbled. He was pretty sure he wouldn’t last that long without food.

“Um, do you have cereal?” he asked, not wanting to cause the woman any trouble.

“Yeah sure.” She said, already moving to grab everything her son’s boyfriend needed.

Just as she placed the bowl, spoon, milk and cereal in front of him, Andy walked into the kitchen as well. His hair was fighting the gravity and Ashton had to force himself not to chuckle at the sight.

“Morning” he yawned while he stretched his arms, looking like he still needed another five hours of sleep.

“Morning.” His wife and Ashton said in unison.

“Ah, Ashton, I hadn’t even seen you yet.” he said, patting the boy on the shoulder before moving over to kiss his wife on the cheek.

“Smells great darling.” He told her.

 

The three of them ate in silence for a while and it was a tiny bit uncomfortable, Ashton thought. It didn’t really surprise him; Luke and he hadn’t asked them if he could stay the night or not and it wasn’t even the first time it had happened.

The boy didn’t even try to think of something to say, instead he wished he had stayed in bed with his boyfriend.

 

As soon as he had finished his bowl of cereal, he got up, cleaned up after himself and was about to leave the kitchen to crawl back into Luke’s bed.

Liz had other plans though.

“Ashton.” She called after him and the boy turned on the heels of his feet.

“Can we talk for a moment?” she asked, looking from the boy to her husband and back to Ashton.

“Yeah, of course.” He said, sounding a little uncertain but walking back into the room and sitting down anyway.

 

Liz and Andy were, just like a few moments ago, seated across from him and Liz seemed to be considering her words before opening her mouth.

“I know you and Luke have only been together for a few weeks and I realise it’s a bit early to be talking about this kind of stuff but I just wanted to be sure you guys know about this before it is too late…” she started, her face looking kind and soft and Ashton forced himself to relax a little.

“You’re eighteen; I’m pretty sure you know how it works when people fall in love.” She said and the senior nodded, hoping Liz would leave out the embarrassing details; he had already had this talk with his own mum.

“Luke’s only sixteen and he isn’t very experienced with boys. He’s never dated anyone before you and I just want to be sure he is safe with you. I trust you; I see the way you are with him. But you are still so young yourself and you must have your own desires…” she said and Ashton nodded quickly to show her he knew what she was talking about and that she didn’t have to explain herself, keeping a straight face as he did so.

“Just… I want you guys not to do anything you aren’t ready for. And I’ve already told Luke this, but he doesn’t have to do anything he doesn’t want to.”

“I agree.” Ashton told her. He needed Liz to understand he wanted nothing but the best for his boy.

“I know you do. I am just scared he’d be too nervous to say anything or that he’d be afraid to tell you whenever he wouldn’t want to do certain things. So, I told him that his consent is more important than whatever you want and if you really are as good of a boyfriend as he says you are, you will respect that.”

“Also...” She said before Ashton could interrupt her.

“I want you to know that the exact same goes for you. Just because you are older doesn’t mean you have to be ready to do whatever he wants. I’d understand if you’d feel as if you are supposed to want everything sooner because of your age but age has nothing to do with this. So, in case nobody has told you this yet; you can decline him as well. You have the right to tell him you want to wait if you do.”

Ashton was a bit taken aback by those words. He’d had a talk similar to this one with his own mum but that had been before Luke had been in the picture and his mum had never told him this. At least not in so many words. He had to admit it was nice to hear it.

“You’re right. Thank you.”

“Now, I’d rather have you two wait for a few years but I am pretty sure that isn’t going to happen so… Make sure to use protection.”

Ashton could feel his face heating up and he looked at his hands so he didn’t have to look at his boyfriend’s parents.

“O-okay.” He stuttered.

God, this was awkward.

“Good.” She nodded.

 

Ashton was just about to ask if he had permission to leave when Liz opened her mouth again. He fought the urge to sigh.

“How much do you know about Luke’s condition?” she asked straight forward.

“Uhh. I know he has very sensitive hearing and that he used to have canines and stuff like that.” He told the two adults.

“There’s more to it than that though.” Andy finally spoke up.

“In order to be with him, it is important that you understand his behaviour and his body language. And as mean as it might sound, Luke really is like a dog in some ways. You’ve probably already noticed how he avoids eye contact when he’s uncomfortable and that he tilts his head when he hears something. I think it would be good for the both of you if you’d read a thing or two about dogs and their behaviour.” The father said.

“I could also tell you a thing or two, if you want to.” Liz offered and Ashton found himself nodding before he even knew what he was getting himself into.

“Okay.” She said, smiling at the senior.

 

“So, that whole ‘not looking anyone in the eye’ thing is very common for dogs.” She started, suddenly sounding like a school teacher.

“Submissive dogs avoid eye contact because it is a sign of dominance. When two dogs look each other in the eye, the weaker dog looks away first to show the other he doesn’t mean harm. Now, Luke is very submissive so he looks away a lot, especially in the beginning. He also makes himself as small as possible when he’s intimidated”

Well, that explained _a lot._

“His ears are important for his body language as well. They lay flat when he’s scared or worried but when he pulls them back he’s relaxed or content. They move up when he hears something but I am sure you’ve already seen that. Sometimes, he keeps moving them from the side to the back and to the side again. That’s when he’s very nervous and doesn’t know what to do.”

“He only uses his tail to wag it. It is possible for him to keep it higher but because he is so submissive he always makes sure to just let it hang.” Andy added and Ashton just tried to process all the information he was given.

“Luke can’t eat too many vegetables or fruits either; his body just can’t handle it. Besides that he just likes to have someone around to tell him what to do and how to act, like a leader or whatever.” Liz said. She was clearly thinking of something she might have forgotten about.

 

The three of them were silent for a little while, Andy and Liz looking at each other as if they were communicating through their eyes and Ashton just waited.

“Oh, I almost forgot!” Liz then said.

“How could I have forgotten about this; I was supposed to tell you this along with the whole consent story…” she chuckled a little and the senior frowned at her.

“I don’t know how much you know about dogs but they aren’t able to reproduce until they are completely mature. Now, I understand you two can’t get kids together and all, but what I am trying to say is that we are not sure if Luke is capable of having sex yet.” Liz sounded more like a doctor than a school teacher now and maybe, in a certain way, she was. After all, she had been taking care of Luke since the day they had found him; there was no one who knew more about him and his condition than she did.

“I am one hundred percent sure he hasn’t had any wet dreams yet and I am not sure when that will happen. Could be within a few weeks, but it could also take years.”

Ashton started blushing again. This really was the weirdest conversation he had ever taken part in.

“I expect you to be there for him when that happens and not to take advantage of the situation.” She sounded stern and Ashton could understand why. So he nodded once again.

 

 

\---

 

After that Ashton was finally released, he pretty much fled up the stairs and into Luke’s bed.

The boy was still asleep but Ashton didn’t really care. He just crawled towards him and wrapped his arms around his sleeping frame, nuzzling his face against the back of his neck.

 

He didn’t even consider going back to sleep because his mind was racing with everything he had learned in the last sixty minutes.

So many things made sense now; the way Luke didn’t stick up for himself and how shy he always was. Maybe all that blushing came along with pulling his ears back and avoiding eye contact, maybe it was just to show he didn’t mean harm or that he wasn’t completely comfortable with whatever had been said or done.

 

Ashton also thought about the last thing Liz had told him, about how the boy had never had a wet dream or an erection before.

The senior could barely remember the first time he had woken up with a sticky mess in his boxers or the first time his dick had stood up against his pyjamas. He hadn’t been worried or anything because he knew it was normal and all but it had still been a bit uncomfortable and maybe even scary at first.

He couldn’t really imagine what it would be like for Luke the first time for all other boys his age had been dealing with that kind of stuff for _years_.

Ashton also wondered if it had made Luke uncomfortable in the past, when people had joked about masturbation and sex and stuff like that for he hadn’t had a clue what it would be like.

 

Ashton’s need to protect and take care of the boy had only grown thanks to the conversation with the boy’s parents but that had been the plan all along, he figured.

 

\---

 

Ashton was still wrapped around Luke but he had put on some music an hour ago or so.

The sophomore was still asleep but Ashton really didn’t want to be alone with his parents again, so all he could do was wait.

He didn’t mind though; he hadn’t planned on doing anything productive today anyways.

 

After a while, Luke finally stopped snoring and started moving around a bit – for as far as that was possible with Ashton’s arms around him, that is.

“Morning.” He said when he _finally_ opened his blue eyes, his voice sounding hoarse. He turned around in Ashton’s arms so they were facing each other.

“Hi baby.” Ashton smiled at him, kissing his lips as the boy was busy waking up completely. He was blinking against the light in the room and he stretched, accidentally knocking his elbow against Ashton’s arm in the progress.

“Have you been up for long?” Luke wanted to know and the older boy bit his lip, considering if he was going to tell the truth or not.

“A little over two hours.”

“And you waited for me to wake up all that time?” Luke asked him, looking at him as if he had lost his mind completely.

“No, I had breakfast with your parents…” Ashton said.

“And, well, it became a bit uncomfortable after a while so I decided to go back to bed.”

“What did they say?” Luke wanted to know.

“Uhh, I guess they figured they had to give me ‘the talk’ in case my mum hadn’t done that yet.” he chuckled and the young blonde started blushing as if on cue.

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s not your fault. They just want to protect you.” Ashton muttered before kissing the boy’s cheek, telling him without words he wanted the exact same thing.

 

“So what do you wanna do today?” the elder asked, just to change the subject.

“Sleep.” Luke mumbled before turning on his side so his back was against Ashton’s chest once again.

“You are the absolute worst.”

“You love me.”

They both fell silent for a second or two.

“Yeah, I do.” Ashton said and he meant every word of it.

“Good.” Luke said and the senior could hear the smile in his voice.

“Because I love you too.” 


	11. Chapter 11

“On September first, 1939, Germany invaded Poland under the false pretext that the Poles had carried out a series of sabotage operations against German targets. Two days later, on the third of September…”

Ashton didn’t hear the rest of it.

He had always liked History but their new teacher didn’t really know how to make it interesting. His voice was monotone and the blonde was pretty sure he literally copied Wikipedia or whatever for his lessons.

 

The football captain had just had lunch and to be honest, his thoughts kept going back to when he had set foot in the school canteen.

He had found Luke already there, talking to a group of football players and laughing along with them. He had looked at ease, as if he had been friends with the guys for years. When Ashton had arrived at the table, Luke had pressed his lips against Ashton’s, ignoring the way some people still looked at them and then he had continued his conversation like nothing had happened.

 

Ashton loved this, loved how natural his relation with Luke already was. The butterflies and the fireworks and all that nonsense were still present but it didn’t make him and Luke nervous anymore; it was absolutely perfect.

 

The blonde boy’s parents had been a lot nicer since their talk last Saturday, as if Ashton and they were on the same page now, and there was nothing that wasn’t perfect about Luke being his boyfriend anymore.

Okay, Ashton did realize that there would come a day where his friends would ask about Luke’s disease and his beanie and all but the senior didn’t want to worry about that yet.

Him and Luke would figure it out, he was sure of it.  

 

“On October sixth Hitler made a public peace overture to the United Kingdom and France, but said that the future of Poland was to be determined exclusively by Germany and the Soviet Union. Chamberlain rejected this on the twelfth of October….”

Their teacher continued.

Ashton looked over to Michael, who was seated next to him and noticed him drawing a tiny stick figure war in his notebook while Calum, who was seated in front of them, was writing something down. The team captain was pretty sure it wasn’t about history though.

 

Suddenly the door to their classroom opened and the janitor was stood in the door opening.

“Mister Irwin?” He said, his eyes searching the classroom.

“Yeah?” Ashton spoke so the old man could find him easier.

“You are requested to go to the nurse’s office.” The grey haired man said and then he disappeared again.

Ashton offered his friend a questioning look to show them he had no idea what was going on either, shoved his still closed book in his bag and then got up.

Their teacher nodded at him politely and then continued his boring story.

 

Usually, Ashton didn’t experience stress easily. He wasn’t one to speculate about what could be going on or whatever because he always found it was pretty much useless.

This time, however, he automatically thought of Luke for he was the only person who could be needing him, right?

Or maybe it was just a team mate who had gotten into a fight or whatever; that did happen every now and then.

Either way, Ashton was worried. So he rushed through the hallways and towards the office he had been send to.

 

He opened the door to the rather small room and there he was: his Luke.

The blonde was seated on top of the black leather examination table, his feet dangling beneath his body as he looked up to see who was walking his way.

His face lit up a little when he saw it was his boyfriend but that didn’t really calm Ashton down.

The eldest stood in between his legs and wrapped his arms around his shoulders, kissing the corner of his mouth before asking him what was wrong.

“It’s nothing to be worried about.” A female voice behind him said and he turned his head around without letting go of the younger boy.

“It’s just a fever, nothing a bit of rest and a bowl of soup can’t handle.” The nurse smiled kindly at the couple.

“Mister Hemmings only needed you to bring him home for his parents aren’t home.”

“Oh. Of course, no problem.” He mumbled while finally letting go of the blonde so he could get off of the table and get his stuff.

 

Ashton protectively took Luke’s hand in his own as they made their way over to Luke’s locker and then to the parking lot. It reminded him of the very first time he had properly met the younger boy.

“Not much has changed in a month time, huh.” He said, squeezing Luke’s hand once.

“Everything changed.” The boy with the beanie argued.

“I have you now.”

 

\---

 

“Sit.” Ashton said while pushing Luke towards the couch in his living room.

“I might be half dog but that doesn’t mean you can just bark out orders to me.” Luke joked but the older boy ignored him, pushing him down so he was sitting now. He took a blanket and threw it around his boyfriend’s shoulders.

“I am making soup. Do you want chicken or tomato?”

“I don’t want soup.” Luke said.

“Lucas, you heard what the nurse said. You need rest and soup, so that’s what you’ll get.” Ashton said, doing his best to sound as stern as possible but the blonde only smiled at him. He pulled off his beanie moved his ears around a little, Ashton, despite being used to them by now, still watching with interest.

“So, chicken or tomato?” He tried again while filling the kettle with water.

“Ash, remember the first time you brought me home from the school nurse?” Luke chuckled a little, which, to be honest, annoyed Ashton a bit. All he wanted to do was take care of his boyfriend, but the boy simply wouldn’t let him.

“Of course I do.”

“Remember when I told you back then that I wasn’t even sick.”

“Yeah, that’s because you are a stubborn little shit.” Ashton said half-heartedly.

“No, it’s because of my body temperature… I thought I had told you that.”

Ashton suddenly stopped moving and turned around to face Luke, who had thrown the blanket off of him. He was looking at Ashton with a smirk on his face.

“Right. So you are not sick?”

“Yeah, that’s what I was trying to tell you.”

“Well, you could’ve just said so…” Ashton said while staring at the bowl of soup he had just finished.

“So, no soup?”

“Nah… But you can have it, if you don’t want to throw it away.”

The older boy grabbed a spoon and sat down next to the younger boy, blowing on the hot liquid before carefully taking a sip.

 

“But why did you say you were sick?” Ashton wanted to know after he had finished the food.

“I didn’t want to go to biology.” Luke shrugged. He had grabbed his guitar in the meantime and was playing a tune Ashton didn’t recognize.

“I thought you liked biology.” The older boy remarked.

Luke had told him he liked the subject for he was interested in DNA and all that, since he was a hybrid after all.

The younger boy shrugged again without saying anything and Ashton watched him intently.

“What?” Luke asked, squirming a little and that’s when Ashton knew for sure.

“It wasn’t just biology though. There was something else.” He stated; he knew his boyfriend better than that.

Suddenly, the blonde boy had to look at his fingers in order to keep playing, refusing to look Ashton in the eye.

“Lucas.” The older boy said, not liking it whenever his boyfriend was uncomfortable telling him something because he should know he could trust the football player with _everything._ If he wouldn’t tell him now he wouldn’t push him, but Ashton really hoped he would spill. If it was something Luke had trouble with, Ashton would do anything to solve it for him.

“We had sex ed” The blonde almost whispered and the older boy visibly relaxed and a soft smile appeared on his face.

“It’s not that bad Luke.” He told the boy who still refused to meet his eyes.

“I don’t know... It’s awkward though.” Luke mumbled.

“You can’t just walk away from everything you don’t like.” Ashton chuckled before pressing a kiss to the boy’s cheek, his hands never stopping the song that they were playing.

“I know, but I already know about protection and stuff…” he mumbled. Ashton had never seen his face any redder than it was at that moment.

“And, like, I don’t have to worry about getting someone pregnant anyways so…” 

“But what if you’ve got questions, or whatever? Would you ask your mum?” Ashton asked, only half joking.

 “Google.” Luke stated, and, admittedly, he did have a point there.

“Okay.” Ashton easily gave in.

 

\---

 

“Hey Ash?” Luke asked out of nowhere.

The two of them were in the younger boy’s room, both doing their homework while some music was playing in the background. They were lying on the floor, on their stomachs, facing each other with their books in between them. Both of them hadn’t really said a word since they had started.

“Yeah?” he responded without looking up from his math.

“Have you… uhm…”

Those two words alone did make him curious enough to look up. Luke was blushing again and staring at the pen in his right hand.

“H-have you had sex yet?”

“No.” Ashton answered truthfully.

“Oh.” Luke said.

“Okay.”

Ashton kept looking at the boy’s still flustered face while he looked down again, chewing on his pen while he tried to figure out how to solve a certain problem. Or maybe he was just pretending to think about math and thought of something else instead.

“Why? Is something bothering you?” the senior asked, wanting the boy to know he could talk to him if he wanted to.

“No.” He answered too quickly.

Ashton kept looking at the younger boy.

“Maybe.”

“You can tell me, I won’t laugh or anything.” The dirty blonde told him.

“Okay, so…”

He paused.

“You know that, like, most boys, they get erections when they are like twelve or whatever… But I, because I am part dog, have never…”

He didn’t finish his sentence.

“And I just… I wanna know what it’s like but, also, I’m scared that you wouldn’t want to wait any longer and I have no idea how long I’ll have to wait and…”

“Luke.” Ashton interrupted him with a soft voice, causing the boy to meet his eyes.

“I would stay with you even if you’d _never_ want to have sex with me.”

The younger started to blush as soon as the word ‘sex’ had left his boyfriend’s lips but they both ignored it.

“I understand you want to know what it’s like but you really don’t need to worry about me. Like, at all.” He promised him. Luke didn’t look too convinced though.

“But what if we make out or whatever and you get hard and I don’t?”

“Then nothing.” Ashton shrugged easily. To be honest, he wasn’t really sure how he was going to deal with that yet but Luke didn’t have to know that.

“Okay.” The sophomore said before biting down on his bottom lip; something he only did when he was worried or deep in thought.

“Anything else you wanna talk about?” Ashton asked. He knew that it hadn’t been easy for Luke to bring up the subject so they’d better talk about all of his questions right now; god knows how long it would take for him to speak up again.

“Is it true guys wake up with an erection every morning?” Luke mumbled almost inaudible.

“No, not every morning… But it happens quite a lot in the beginning. Though I am not sure if the same goes for you since your body is just different.”

“Yeah, thought so…”

 

Ashton drummed his fingers against his book, wondering whether his next sentence would be a smart move or not. He thought ‘fuck it’ and decided to say it anyways.

“When that happens, you should know you can always, like, tell me or whatever. If you want to…” The senior hoped Luke understood he didn’t say it so they could go at it right away but because it would probably be easier or at least less awkward to go to his boyfriend instead of his mum or brother.

“Yeah, okay. Thanks.” Luke said, looking genuinely thankful.

Ashton crawled forward a little, pressed a kiss to Luke’s nose and then he went back to making his homework again, humming along to the song that Luke’s stereo was playing.

Half of him wished his little Lukey could stay this innocent for a long time, the other half quite curious to what would happen when he’d have his first erection.

 

\---

 

“You seriously are the warmest and most cuddly person I know.” Ashton giggled when Luke wrapped himself around Ashton that night.

“Except for Calum maybe. He likes cuddles a lot.”

“My cuddles are better right?” The older boy could hear the pout in Luke’s voice.

“I don’t know, Calum’s are quite good.” He said, having a hard time keeping a straight face.

It did have the desired effect though for Luke hugged him even tighter, his tail brushing against Ashton’s legs occasionally and the top of his head rubbing against the older boy’s chin, a bit like cats did. Apparently dogs liked to do that too.

His lips brushed against the sensitive skin of Ashton’s neck and over his collarbone without leaving a single kiss and the older boy could feel goose bumps appearing there.

“Okay, okay, your cuddles are definitely better. Can I have a kiss now?” he whined, sounding much like his younger brother whenever he didn’t want to go to bed yet.

“No.” Luke smirked, pressing his lips against Ashton’s skin just once.

“Babe.” Ashton whined, causing the younger boy to chuckle.

“Why don’t you ask Calum for a kiss?”

“I don’t want a Calum kiss. Calum stinks.”

“He smells quite nice actually. And I would know.” Luke argued and Ashton playfully shoved him.

He then pulled the boy up the tiniest bit and pressed his lips against his soft ones.

 

“You smell better though.” Was the last thing the hybrid-boy mumbled against Ashton’s lips before opening his mouth so the older boy could deepen the kiss.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaand that's a wrap..
> 
> Or is it?

Now Ashton knew pretty much everyone hated Mondays, that all the teenagers who went to his school needed some time to fully wake up after a fun but tiresome weekend, yet that did not explain why the canteen was completely silent when he stepped foot in it.

His eyes searched the room, and everybody seemed to be staring at the exact same thing; some of them looked surprised, some had a neutral face as if they didn’t know what else to do with it.

 

Ashton kept scanning the crowd and then his eyes stopped when he noticed a blonde boy with two fluffy ears in the middle of the room; nothing special.

He didn’t even realize what the hell was going on until he saw the look on his boyfriend’s face. It was a look of pure horror. His ears were also moving from the back to the side and back again, meaning he was nervous, Ashton knew.

Suddenly everything clicked into place; Ashton wasn’t supposed to be able to see the ears in this environment. There was a reason Luke wore his beanie and now he wasn’t and that was what the _entire school_ was staring at.

 

His feet didn’t need to be told to walk towards his boyfriend, his arms wrapping around him as if they had never done anything else in Ashton’s eighteen years on this earth and he kissed the boy’s forehead, wishing he could’ve prevented this.

With Luke still in his arms, the boy hiding his face in the crook of Ashton’s neck like he had so many times before and his hands clinging to the front of his boyfriend’s shirt, Ashton locked eyes with the cause of all of this.

 

“You are _so_ dead.” He told the boy, his voice surprisingly calm.

 

Ashton didn’t even need to let go to of the boy in his arms to make it happen for Calum and Michael, who had been by his side when he had entered the canteen, rushed towards the boy and both grabbed a bicep. They started pulling the boy away from the canteen and more and more football players followed the three. Ashton could hear the boy yelling something about Luke being a freak, like he always did but he forced himself to ignore it.

The captain of the team knew where they were going; the locker rooms. They were close to the canteen and no teacher would interrupt them there.

He didn’t follow his team though. Instead he pushed the boy in his arms off of him gently, looking into his scared and watery eyes. His heart broke for the guy, just like it had done exactly five weeks ago.

 

Ashton wasn’t a big fan of PDA, but this situation was more important than his own morals. So he cupped his boyfriend’s face and kissed him while his free hand pet the boy’s limp ear.

At first Luke didn’t kiss back, too surprised or confused to realize what was happening.

Then he did and the entire canteen was still watching in shock.

“I love you.” Ashton said, making sure it was loud enough for everyone to hear. He knew nobody would dare to lay a hand or say a bad word to the school most popular kid’s boyfriend. And if they did, than his team would take care of them the same way they were doing to Kevin at that very moment, making sure everybody knew not to mess with Luke.

“It’s okay baby. I will protect you. Calum and Michael will too. We won’t let anybody hurt you.” He added a lot softer, it was barely a whisper.

Both his hands were holding Luke’s face now and the boy tried to nod without making Ashton let go of him.

“At least you won’t have to hide anymore, right?” he tried, placing a brief kiss on either of his dog-like ears.

“Yeah.” Was all Luke said and Ashton wished he could read his mind right now, just to see how bad it was in there.

The captain took the boy’s hand in his own and led him out of the still quiet room and towards his car. They were going home.

 

\---

 

Calum and Michael didn’t say a word to him when Ashton opened Luke’s front door.

Instead, they made a bee-line for the sophomore and dropped down on top of him, crushing him in their too tight hug.

“Guys.” Ashton could hear him chuckle from underneath them.

All he could see was one hand pushing at Michael’s shoulder but it was in vain.

“Guys, I can’t breathe.” He tried again.

“Don’t care.” Calum muttered, sounding out of breath as well for he was squeezed in between Luke and Michael.

“Seriously, I will die any second now.” And that’s when Ashton decided to intervene.

“Okay guys, please don’t kill my boyfriend.” He mused, pulling at Michael’s arm, causing him to fall to the floor.

“Ow, you asshole. We just wanted to give him some love.”

“He doesn’t need your love. He’s got me.” Ashton said, only half joking, while removing Calum from his Luke. Or at least, made him sit next to him instead of on top of him.

 

“Are you okay Luke?” Michael asked from where he was now seated on the floor in front of the couch the other three were on, suddenly sounding serious.

“Yeah…” he shrugged.

“Thanks for sticking up for me.” He said and that’s when Ashton remembered what they had done for him. He quickly looked at the two boys’ bruised hands and bloody knuckles and then nodded at them to thank them without words. They nodded as well, telling him they’d always have his back.

“Of course.” Calum smiled brightly, pulling Luke into a bone crashing hug.

“Everything for our little Lukey.”

Luke didn’t even try to look offended.

 

“Should I explain now or do you guys wanna pretend you don’t want to know about my ears for another hour or so?” Luke asked, causing all three of the seniors to crack up.

“Sounds like an awesome plan.” Michael eventually agreed.

Luke got up, grabbed three beers and a glass of coke, put them down on the table and sat down in Ashton’s lap, needing his support right now.

The older boy squeezed his tight with his large hand and kissed his shoulder, wishing he could help the boy more, comfort him more but he knew he couldn’t.

“So…”

 

\---

 

“So _that’s_ why Calum likes you so much!” Michael exclaimed after he had been listening to Luke’s story quietly, looking as if he had just figured out one of the biggest mysteries of the world.

Luke tilted his head to the side, not really understanding what the older boy was talking about.

“Calum’s obsessed with dogs.” The red haired boy explained and Ashton kicked the boy in the side. Sure, Luke was part animal but that didn’t give his friend the right to call his boyfriend a dog.

“Damnit Ash, it was just a joke.” Michael whined.

“Don’t make jokes about my Lukey.” Ashton shrugged.

“It’s okay Ash, I don’t mind. My family makes jokes all the time.” The boy on top of him told him.

Ashton still looked cautious though.

 

Calum, who hadn’t said anything during Luke’s story was still looking at him with curious eyes.

“Can we see your tail?”

“No.” Ashton answered before Luke had the chance to.

He wasn’t sure why but somehow that tail was something private, something not everybody had to see.

The boy in his lap turned around and giggled at his boyfriend’s serious expression. He kissed the corner of his mouth.

“You are way too possessive sometimes.”

“Don’t pretend you don’t like it.” Ashton then smirked, looking at Luke’s lips which were close to his own, yet not close enough.

“Guys! We’re still here.” Michael warned.

Just to fuck with his friend, Ashton leaned in and sucked on the younger boy’s bottom lip before deepening the kiss, making sure his friends could see as much tongue as possible. Luke didn’t seem to get what he was trying to do so he pulled away with rosy cheeks and rested his head on Ashton’s shoulder. Ashton quickly kissed the top of his head as an apology and then watched Michael flip him off.

“You two are too cute to stay mad at.” He said.

 

\---

 

“I don’t wanna…” Luke admitted right after Ashton had parked his car in the parking lot of the school.

“I know baby.” Ashton sighed. He understood, he really did. But Luke couldn’t stay home for the rest of his life just because people knew now.

“And I can’t promise you it will be fine but I will be there okay? The team and I, we will keep an eye on you from the moment you set foot in that building until you are back in the car with me, okay?”

Luke nodded, his eyes closed as he took in a deep breath.

“Okay.”

 

He pushed the car door open and got out, already casting his eyes downward. Ashton wrapped his arm around his smaller frame and led him towards the entrance, pushing open the heavy door and stepping into the hallway.

He noticed people looking at them and whispers filled the hall but the team captain just glared at everybody who even dared to look at them for longer than two seconds.

Nobody said a word.

 

The couple walked towards Luke’s locker and Ashton just hoped nobody had trashed it or whatever; high school kids could be cruel like that.

 

When they reached it, he noticed the locker that was Luke’s was now pitch black instead of red, his name written in bright blue letters with little music notes and stars around it.

The blonde looked at it, the frown on his face quickly turning into a soft but sad smile.

Ashton figured – and Luke probably did as well – that someone actually had trashed it but that someone else had tried to fix it. And the football captain was ninety-nine percent sure he knew who that someone else had been.

 

The younger of the two grabbed his books from his locker and Ashton walked him to his class, kissing him on the cheek and promising he’d be there when class was over.

 

When he sat down next to Calum, he noticed his blue fingers right away. Two bottles of spray paint were sticking out of Michael’s bag and Ashton smiled to himself; of course it had been them.

 

\---

 

“Ashton?”

“Hmm?”

“Thank you.”

“For what?” Ashton lifted up his head a little and looked in the direction of the boy who was lying next to him. He didn’t see much because of the dark. He knew Luke was able to see him.

“For everything. For saving me, for loving me, for helping me through today.”

“You’re welcome.” Ashton smiled, reaching out his hand and carefully searching for the boy’s face.

“I just… What happened these two days has always been my biggest fear but thanks to you, it wasn’t as scary as I had expected it to be.”

Ashton didn’t really know what to say to that.

“I love you.” He eventually went with.

“I love you more. You really are my hero.” Luke said, kissing the back of Ashton’s hand.

“You always will be.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So if you want more of this story, I can already tell you guys I am working on a sequel.  
> I can also tell you guys there will be smut in it.
> 
> Find me on tumblr (abbypd.tumblr.com) or just leave a message or a kudo if you liked this story because it means the world and more to me if you do.
> 
> Love you guys


	13. Sequel

The buzzing of his phone on his nightstand was what woke Ashton up at half past six in the morning.

This wouldn’t have been a problem, wouldn’t it have been a Tuesday, a.k.a. ‘sleep-in day’.

 

The dirty blonde was in college now, had been for a year and a half, and he had to admit college was a lot harder than high school. On Tuesdays, he didn’t have morning classes and he usually used those mornings to catch up on some very much needed sleep.

Ashton had been given a football scholarship, just like Calum while Michael had somehow managed to get into the same school on his own. So the three of them had been rooming together for all that time and though there was quite some arguing about who should do the shopping, the cooking and cleaning, Ashton loved practically every second of it.

The only thing the oldest of the three didn’t like was that he had to miss his boyfriend. They only saw each other in the weekends, during the holidays and on skype and well; it just wasn’t enough. They had gone from spending at least twelve hours a day together to forty-eight hours a week and it was hard.  

 

Except for being apart, everything about their relationship was absolutely brilliant. It had taken Luke almost a year to get comfortable with walking around without a beanie covering up his ears. And at first people had been bugging him; asking for pictures and he’d even been invited for multiple interviews but he declined every single one of them.

Within a few weeks, people had lost their interest and Luke’s life had gone back to normal.

 

Okay, admittedly, there might have been one other tiny part in their relationship that wasn’t that amazing but Ashton refused to even let himself think about that because Luke was so self-conscious about it.

See, Luke still wasn’t able to get an erection.

And Ashton didn’t really mind all that much but it did mean that he had to pull back whenever they kissed, had to shove the boy off of his lap whenever they made out for too long and Luke made too many noises. It had Luke blushing and apologizing every time he found out his boyfriend was hard while he wasn’t and Ashton told him to stop apologizing every single time. It was all in vain though.

Luke kept telling him he wished he could give that part of himself to his boyfriend, had even offered to blow Ashton without him returning the favour – since that would be completely useless – but the older boy had refused and told Luke he should never overstep his body’s boundaries.

It wasn’t ideal but it was nothing Ashton couldn’t handle. He’d just make sure to get out of bed before Luke, jerk off and then get back in bed with his still sleeping boyfriend.

There were worse things and their time would come. And maybe it was a little selfish but Ashton really hoped that time would come rather sooner than later.

 

The buzzing hadn’t stopped yet so Ashton groaned and grabbed the phone, blinking against the bright light in his tiny, pitch black room. It took a while before his eyes were used to the light and he could read the name on the screen.

‘Luke.’

And well, that couldn’t be much good for Luke’s alarm wouldn’t go off for another hour and even then the senior would have trouble waking up, Ashton knew.

He quickly pressed the green button and held the device to his ear.

“Hi baby.” He mused, trying to sound as if he hadn’t just been woken up, which was stupid because Luke knew very well it was ‘sleep-in day’.

 _“Hi. I’m sorry for waking you up.”_ The boy said, his voice sounding a lot less sleepy than Ashton’s, which surprised him.

“What’s up?” He tried to sound casual to hide the slight worry in his voice.

 _“Funny you should mention that.”_ Came the younger boy’s response and, okay, now Ashton really was confused. Luke’s voice had sounded unsteady, as if he was not comfortable talking about whatever he had wanted to talk about.

“Luke? What is it?” Ashton tried again.

 _“Okay, so… Do you remember when you left for college and you told me I could_ always _call you?”_  

“Yeah of course.”

  _“And, like, you said that I… That I could always go to you if I ever needed help with uhm…”_

“Luke.” Ashton spoke, wanting the boy to calm down, to remember this was Ashton he was talking to: his boyfriend of almost two years.

“Just tell me, okay? You know I won’t judge you baby.”

_“Okay, so…”_

A pause.

“ _Ikindahavemyfirsthardon.”_ The younger boy rushed out.

“What?”

Ashton had heard it. He just needed to be sure he had heard it right.

_“I have a boner…”_

_“And I don’t know what to do and I just hoped you could… Like… Tell me what to do.”_

_“I know that’s stupid, sorry I woke you up for this, I should’ve…”_

“Luke.” Ashton repeated, a fond smile on his face he was sure the boy who was miles away could hear in his voice.

“It’s okay. I’m glad you called me.”

_“O-okay.”_

 

They were both quiet for a moment, listening to each other’s breathing for a bit. It was slowly sinking in that his boyfriend had his very first erection ever and that he was supposed to help him through it all. His body responded a bit already, just from thinking about what was about to happen next.

 

“Okay, so…” Ashton started, refusing to make this awkward because it was Luke, and the boy was already nervous enough; he didn’t need Ashton to add to it.

“Have you touched yourself yet?”

_“No.”_

_“It’s so uncomfortable Ash.”_

The older boy wondered how long he had been aroused by now, how long he had been in bed, scared to touch or to do anything else and not wanting to call Ashton yet because it was too early. He didn’t waste time in asking this though.

“Okay, so just wrap your hand around it and just stroke it a bit. Don’t start off too fast." He instructed.

_“Okay.”_

Ashton heard some shuffling on the other side of the line and he imagined Luke getting comfortable, lying back and touching himself. He could feel his own dick fattening up just at the thought of Luke getting off.

The older boy could hear the senior’s breath hitch and he figured he had started.

“That’s it baby.” He told him, his own hand moving towards his clothed crotch.

“Just stroke it for a bit, don’t do anything else yet. Take your time.” Ashton said, wanting to draw this out a little.

 _“Okay.”_ Came Luke’s response, his voice already a bit breathier than it had been a few minutes ago.

Ashton could hear his boyfriend’s breathing growing a bit heavier and he bit his lip as he palmed his own growing dick.

He rubbed at it, pressing down to create some delicious friction.

“Now rub your thumb over the head.” Ashton said, making sure not to be too loud because the walls were thin and he didn’t need Calum and Michael hearing him say these words to his boyfriend.

A soft moan followed mere seconds later and that’s when the college boy shoved his hand down his boxers and wrapped his hand around his cock, starting to jerk of lazily, his eyes closed as he imagined Luke doing the exact same thing.

“ _Fuck.”_ The younger boy breathed out.

“Does it feel good babe?” Ashton asked him, squeezing his dick the slightest bit.

 _“Yeah.”_ Was the only thing Luke said.

“Shit.” Ashton moaned as his hand moved over his hard on, listening to Luke panting already. He knew he wouldn’t last long; no one ever did the first time.

 _“Are you touching yourself too?”_ Luke asked, his voice curious and needy.

“Yeah. Shit, you sound so hot baby.”

The boy only moaned at the praise.

“I can’t wait till I see you again babe. I promise I can make you feel so much better than your own hand can.” He said in a low voice. He didn’t actually have any experience but Luke had even less so the promise wasn’t in vain.

 _“Fuck, Ash.”_ Luke whimpered, his voice a little higher than it usually was.

“Are you close?”

_“I… I don’t know.”_

Right. First time.

 “Just squeeze a bit and twist your hand, try to find out what you like.”

The younger boy didn’t respond and Ashton sped up the motions of his hand as he listened to the boy moaning and whimpering through the phone, the sound of his hand on his dick softly in the background. He was jerking himself off quickly and Ashton just knew he would cum any second now.

The boy was quite loud and it was doing things to Ashton he hadn’t really expected.

“Come on baby, cum for me.” Ashton’s breathing had sped up as well and it was almost embarrassing how close he was already; he should’ve lasted a _lot_ longer after years and years of practice. Hearing his boyfriend moan like this was driving him crazy though, and the climax still had to come.

 _“Fuck, Ash.”_  Luke moaned, the words followed by another few higher pitched moans and that was it; he was cumming.

 

It was easy to imagine the young blonde cumming all over himself, painting his stomach and his hand white for he had dreamed about it way too many times.

“Oh shit.” Ashton bit his lip, trying to stay quiet for his roommates. He rubbed over the head of his dick a few times and twisted his hand the way he always did right before he came.

 _“You sound so hot ash.”_ Luke was breathing heavy as he was coming down from his high and Ashton arched his back, squeezing his eyes shot and groaning one last time before shooting sperm over his hand and onto his stomach.

He slowly jerked himself through his orgasm and then had to pull his hand away because he was too sensitive.

 

“Fuck, that was amazing Luke.” He said once he knew how to breathe again.

 _“Yeah”_ Luke easily agreed, sounding tired from the activity and ready to go back to sleep.

“Wait till I get my hands on you.” Ashton smirked.

He had been waiting for this moment for ages.

The next four days were going to be the longest four days of his life, but at least he could get off listening to Luke doing the exact same miles away.

It was perfect really, nobody could convince him it wasn’t.


End file.
